Homecoming
by dontrun
Summary: Bella's childhood spent with her mother has left her shy, socially isolated and scared of her own shadow. Her life is turned upside down when she is sent to live with the Dad and brother that she never knew she had. Can she overcome her past?
1. Chapter 1

**Beta'd by the lovely TwiDi**

**Story deals with themes of abuse and healing from that abuse, I try not to write in explicit details about the abuse, but the rougher chapters will have warnings on them. **

For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).

If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).

**This story's chapters will be between 3500-6000 words, I don't write extremely long chapters, sorry. **

**Story Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Charlie POV**

I got the call at eight in the morning.

"Charlie Swan?" A vaguely familiar female voice asked.

"Yes, may I ask who is calling?"

"This is Renee." Holy shit what was she doing calling after all these years? "Are you there, Charlie?" She was still a sarcastic bitch.

"Yes, Renee. And to what do I owe the pleasure of this call after over sixteen years?" I could be sarcastic when I wanted as well.

"Charlie last year I got married and we want to travel the world and have adventures. We can't do that with your daughter hanging around. I'm signing her over to you, Charlie. You're finally getting what you wanted all those years ago."

I let out a gush of air. My baby, girl the one I had seen only once in her whole life was coming to live with me. She'd be fifteen now, almost sixteen, the daughter I've never known. The one the cold harpy on the other end of my phone stole out of my life with threats. The fear of losing my son as well as my daughter is the only reason she got away with it.

"When?" My now parched throat cracking on the word.

"My lawyer is faxing all the paper work to the police station this morning. You'll need to sign a few things I'm guessing. However, she will be on a plane tomorrow morning heading to you. Her flight details will be included in the faxed information." I swear the woman's voice is like an ice cube.

"Renee, these papers are giving me primary custody or joint?" I had to know.

"Sole custody, Charlie, I'm completely signing her over. To be honest she's always been too much like you. Hopefully if Phil ever talks me into popping another one out, it will have a personality." I mentally berated her for talking so bad about my child. My little girl. "You are now completely responsible for her, I've signed away my parental rights."

"I'll be in the office in an hour and get the paper work set up. Let her know I'll be there to pick her up at the airport." With bells on!

"Whatever, Charlie, it's all in your hands now. I'm done with this shit." And she hung up.

I really didn't want to think about Renee right now, the way she came into my life. The way she ran out. And the way she has tortured me for years, with a child I've never know. A baby girl whose name I didn't even know. Oh God, I need to get to the office and get that paper work, get everything ready and then I need to tell my son his sister is finally coming home.

~0~

Isabella Marie Swan. At least Renee had given her my last name. Even though Renee had never taken it, she still gave it to my baby Isabella who would be landing at the small airport in Port Angeles tomorrow at seven pm. I need to get my lawyer on the line, get this paper work finished and then go talk to Emmett. Then clean up the spare room for my baby Isabella.

~0~

Three hours later I finally arrived home. Emmett's old beater jeep that he and Jake had put together piece by piece was parked in the driveway. Good. Things were going my way today. My lawyer, who also happens to be my son's girlfriend's father Nick Hale explained the paper work was clear cut. Isabella was one hundred percent mine now. And he got a laugh at the irony that once upon a time Renee did everything including blackmail to keep me from the child and now she is just handing her over. Gotta love old Nick and his sense of humor. Though he did promise to keep his mouth shut about the latest addition to the family. I really didn't want a house full of kids bombarding her when she first gets home tomorrow. And if I know Rosalie, she'd have a party ready and waiting here for Isabella.

"Em?" I called when I walked inside.

"Kitchen!" He bellowed. My son has no indoor voice, at all. I walked into the kitchen and he was there feasting on sandwiches and Dr. Pepper, "Hey, Dad." He grinned showing way to much of the food in his mouth for my liking.

"Son, I need to tell you something important." I started off.

"Dad, listen I'm sorry about that C in math. Edward has promised to tutor my butt in it. You'd never know Mr. Popular was also a smart fucker. Oh shit, sorry about the language." I grimaced. The kid cussed like a sailor.

"No, it's not your math, however, thank Edward for me. I got a call this morning from Renee." He tensed. She wasn't his mother but he had heard her name before. Emmett was eighteen and going to be a senior in high school in the fall. The last time he saw Renee he was four and she was screaming at me on our door steps that she would see me in jail before letting me know my daughter.

"What did the harpy want?" My son knows her nickname too well. He's heard it many times over the years.

"She got married and is sending your sister to live with us permanently. She signed away all her rights to me. Isabella is coming home." I smiled and he gave a short grin. I then went on to explain everything that happened today to him.

"Isabella? So that's my sister's name?"

"Isabella Marie Swan. And she will be here tomorrow. I want to get the spare room cleaned up, put all that storage stuff in the attic, then run to buy her a bed so she has something to sleep in for now. I figure she'll want to decorate it herself so we'll just get the rails and the mattress and box springs. We'll let her pick out a bedroom set and colors on her own."

"Want me to call Edward and Jasper over to help get that stuff up there tonight?" Emmett asked.

"The help would be nice… but to be honest with you, I don't want your sister bombarded with people when she gets in tomorrow. I want her to settle in. This can't be easy on her. Think, Em, the only parent she has ever known is throwing her away just by signing away all her rights; and now is sending her to the father she'd never known. And heaven knows what Renee has tried to tell her. You've heard about the lies she used to keep Isabella away from me." He nodded.

"I'll call the guys over but tell them to keep it quiet for the moment. What time is she coming in tomorrow?"

"Seven in the evening."

"How about we get it emptied and cleaned tonight and we pick up the bed in the morning. I'm sure it needs to be vacuumed and maybe even get the carpet-cleaned." My son might act like a goof but he can be weirdly logical at times.

"Sounds good, you get the boys and I'll go pick up the cleaning supplies from the store and some boxes in case we need them for storing that stuff." We smiled at each other and took off to handle our business.

Emmett POV

I jumped in my jeep and headed over to the Cullens' house, I knew that Jazz and Edward were there since we were supposed to be having a Rock Band tournament this afternoon. Shit, I hope they don't crack my nuts for asking them to give it up to clean of all things.

Jazz's mustang is parked beside Edward's 'grandpa' car in the Cullen driveway. I swear, who needs a five-car garage and three floors for a house? Though I guess it should be four floors since the basement was actually renovated into a kick ass game room with dart boards, pool tables, big squishy sofas and three different gaming systems. The Cullens are loaded big time, but they are so cool despite that. A lot of rich people get a rep for being snobby or dickwads. Not the Cullens though. I walked into the house announcing my arrival. I haven't knocked on this door since I was seven or eight years old.

"Emmett, dear, I'm just finishing up the snacks for you boys." Esme smiled and gave me a hug as I came in. She is the sweetest woman and to be honest I like to pretend she's my Mom since I've never had one. She's the ideal Mom. Sweet, awesome cook, she's so pretty and she never judges but she can give you a look if you're being bad that makes you feel like you're nuts shriveled and fell off.

"Thanks, Esme." I felt bad she has cooked and I'm going to steal the guys away. Should I tell her? Shit. Dad might want to do that.

"Hey, Em." Alice greets as she comes flouncing up the basement stairs. I assume she was down there bugging the guys. Little bit has a thing for Jazz, only she's just getting ready to go into her sophomore in high school and he's going to be a senior. And if he even tried to move on that, Edward would kill him. Edward is a laid back nice guy, but don't fuck with him or his sister, cause he can become a majorly scary mother fucker.

"The guys are down there?" She sighed.

"Yes, Jasper was going to let me join you guys, but Edward said no." She pouted and turned her pretty green eyes on me. Oh, hell no.

"Sorry, kid, it's guy bonding day." Plus if she found out about Isabella, she'd be all over that with a party and wanting to go shopping. My unknown sister would be overwhelmed. Unless she is into that kind of stuff. I wonder what she is like? I ponder this as I say goodbye and head down into the game room.

"Hey." They say in unison giving the universal guy grunt of hello.

"Dudes, I got a huge-ass favor to ask of you." I gathered them close so I could whisper.

"Ok, what?" Edward asks.

"Well, you know how I have this sister I've never met?" They both nod and they looked puzzled.

"Yeah, man, Mom still can't believe what that woman put your Dad through." I smiled at Jasper.

"Well, she is striking again. Seems she's gotten remarried and no longer wants to play Mommy. So, she has signed over the daughter and shipped her off to live with us. I mean, completely signed her over, like gave up all rights." They looked stunned.

"When did this happen?" Edward inquired.

"Dad got a call at the butt crack of dawn. The harpy sent the paper work by fax to his office and Isabella is going to be here tomorrow night."

"That soon?" Jasper questioned looking really shocked.

"Dude, Dad showed me the paperwork. This woman literally has done all of this in a week. Now the poor kid is being kicked out of her home and sent to live with strangers. Dad's worried about her being overwhelmed, so he doesn't want to involve the girls until after Isabella is here. He wants to get her settled before we unleash the women on her." The guys laughed.

"Yes, my dear baby sister will probably want to take her shopping and probably would want to have a Welcome Home party." Edward laughed.

"So, what's the favor?" Jasper asked me.

"Well, we have that third bedroom that just became a junk room over the years because Dad and I were too lazy to move things up into the attic. We were kind of hoping you wouldn't mind coming over and helping us move it there. Also, we want to clean the room up. Dad is going to get her a bed tomorrow and he wants to let her decorate the room herself."

"That's fine, I don't mind helping, you'd do it for us." I smiled at Edward.

"Thanks, man."

"I'm in. We can just tell the girls we're spending time with the Chief, not like it's a lie." Jasper informs me with a sly grin.

"True. Thanks." I told him laughing a little.

~0~

Four hours, way too many trips up and down the narrow flight of steps and the room was cleared. Right now Dad was cleaning the window and I was using a broom to knock down dust and shit on the wall. Jasper was on vacuum duty and Edward won the carpet cleaner. He loves a carpet cleaner. I think he gets off every time he dumps the dirty water tank down the drain. He makes everyone come and see just how fucking dirty that area was. Right now, he is downstairs chomping at the bit to get it going. We made him wait downstairs because he was driving everyone nuts about us not being done yet so he can start the cleaner. He claims it's because he was worried it wouldn't be dry in time. We all know the truth though… the carpet cleaner is his secret lover.

"What bed size are you going with, Charlie?" Jasper asked my Dad.

"I was thinking full sized. It would still leave her room in here for other things like a desk and dresser. Plus, girls need lots of stuff, right?" Dad asked. Poor guy he was getting an instant teenage girl to raise. He was so fucking lost.

"I have no clue, Charlie. I just have my older brother Garrett." He laughed, "But if Alice and Rose are anything to go off by, then yes, teenage girls need lots of stuff and a lot of shopping to get said stuff."

"True!" I agreed. Rosie and Ali were always shopping.

"Rose and Alice have taken on curing the slumping economy themselves. One mall trip at a time." Edward joked coming up the stairs with his carpet cleaner.

"We're not ready for that yet." I told him.

"Yeah, yeah. I just was bringing her up so she's ready to go." Sadly I think he's caressing the handle bar.

"Ahh…" Jasper said trying to hold back his laughter.

"Guys, I just thought of something." Edward gets all of our attention, "If she's decorating the room herself, are you taking her shopping after you pick her up or later in the week?"

"I was thinking this coming weekend. Give her time to settle." Dad informed him.

"Well, won't she need sheets and blankets before then?" Logical bastard. Of course she will.

"True, because both of our beds are queen sized, so they are too big for a full. We had to get queens for us, my butt was too big for full and Dad just likes space." I threw out.

"I'll pick her up some cheap ones tomorrow to make it through until the weekend. It's June, so she doesn't need a comforter or anything big, just a light weight blanket and sheets would do. Maybe pillows." Dad thinks out loud.

"I agree, Dad. Maybe we could run into Wal-Mart there in Port Angeles."

"Hey, Charlie, we have that extra ceiling fan at the house from when Mom remodeled the living room, it's standard white but I'm sure Isabella would enjoy having it." Dad smiled at Jasper's offer. The rest of the house has ceiling fans, one in the living room, kitchen, my room and Dad's room. It's nice to get that air circulation on a hot night.

"Are you sure, Jasper? Tell your Mom I'll buy it from her."

"Let me call." Jasper walked out into the hall and Edward motioned that he'd be right back.

"Dad, what grade is school is she?"

"All I know is she'll be sixteen in September." Dad looked so sad, "I know you're going to be a senior as well as Jasper and Edward, but do me a favor and look out for her, Emmett."

"You don't even have to ask, Dad." It's true. I'd do anything for my Dad and I know if Isabella was hurt at school or something happened there he'd be crushed.

This just brings more good out of being left behind in fourth grade. I was out sick for over half the school year so the school board and Dad decided just to hold me back. It was great for me though. I met Jazz, Edward and my Rosie all because of that infection. And now instead of being off at college I would be home for a year with Isabella to help her get settled. Edward being a summer baby and early start kid is turning seventeen this month, Rosie will be eighteen in March and Jazz will be eighteen in October. I'll be the old fucker at nineteen in January.

Shit. Sixteen! I wonder if we'll have to have one of those sweet sixteen bashes. I know Alice has been planning hers for a while. I swear that thing is going to cost more than most peoples' wedding reception and the guest list is like three hundred people to attend it in early November. That's a huge portion of the population size of Forks.

"Hey, Charlie, I called my Mom and asked her to keep it hushed but she says instead of wasting your money buying her cheap crap for a week she's going to run some stuff over for Isabella to use. Mom has a lot of stuff laying around, she's getting Dad to load up and bring over. Don't ask what it is all I know is some full sized sheets and blankets are included." Dad laughed.

"Thanks, Edward. I'm sure Isabella can put that money to better use."

"Charlie, Mom says you can have it and if you offer her money for it she is going to pop you upside the head." Jasper came in behind Edward. Momma Whitlock would hit him too, "Also she says don't cook she will make a casserole or something and bring it over so you can just reheat it. She says that and I quote… 'Baby girl will need a real meal to welcome her home'." I think I did a happy dance because Momma Whitlock aka Brenda Whitlock is an awesome cook. Not as good as Esme but way up there.

"Thank her for me, Jasper." Dad kind of blushed.

~0~

It was now almost ten at night. The carpet has been cleaned and Dad got out his stash of Shammies and we sucked up a ton of the water off the floor. It was now almost completely dry. Before we started it, Jasper's dad, Jackson, had come over and installed the ceiling fan. It was now turned on helping to speed the drying along. Esme was due in the morning and Edward was spending the night since he was passed out on the sofa. I think the bliss from using his carpet cleaner wore him out.

I texted back and forth with my lady. Nice dirty things that I'd like to do to her body. She wanted me to come over, but I told her that Eddie was camping out for the night and she understood. Jasper had gone home. His Mom had made brownies and he wasn't missing out on them. Garrett was home from college for the summer and it was war in that house to get food.

Dad went to bed a few minutes ago with this goofy grin on his face. The man was so happy that his daughter was coming home. I just really hope she isn't like her Mom. That would break the old man's heart. And to be honest, mine too. I have this secret dream of a sweet kid sister like Alice that I can hang out and be friends with. I also have a nightmare where I have a screaming shrew of a sister who is always telling us we aren't good enough to be in her life. I pray my sister isn't a harpy, shrew and a bitch like her Mom.

~0~

I woke up earlier than I would want to on my summer vacation, all thanks to an over excited Esme, dragging poor Carlisle behind her. Along with enough stuff to furnish most of this house. No really! She had a small U-Haul outside.

"Mom!" Edward groaned and I had to laugh. Dad went to get the door.

"Good morning, Esme. Carlisle." He took in the U-Haul and looked back at us and winked, "I'm guessing you got tired of Edward and decided just to move him in over here?" Carlisle started laughing.

"No, I'm quite fond of my first born. However, if you want to take on the my daughter planning a sweet sixteen that cost more than my car, you can have her." He joked and Esme smacked them both lightly on the shoulders.

"Don't be silly, I need Edward around to lift the heavy things since Carlisle is getting so old." Ohh burn Daddy C.

"Ha, Dad, Mom told you." Edward joked.

"But seriously, Charlie, that poor girl I know she is going to need furniture and I get so many samples sent to me at the shop for me to display that I have to rotate them and just put photos of the extras in books. Well, I just brought a couple sets home yesterday and they have been photographed so I can still sell them and they were completely free to me. So, I know you wanted her to fix up her room herself, but I was thinking this nice off-white pine set that would look good in any girl's bedroom." Esme pulled us out to the U-Haul, opened the door and it was nice. It has that very feminine feel and very classic. She was right, it would go in about any room.

"Esme, I can't accept this. I mean if I did you'd have to let me pay you for it." Poor Dad! I mean there is even a full sized bed still in plastic wrap back there.

"Charlie, since the whole thing cost me nothing, that wouldn't be fair. However, if it will make you feel better you can lend us your son to unload it." She smiled. I had to laugh, she knew I'd help anyway.

"Really, Charlie, you'd be doing us a favor, the pool house is like a furniture warehouse. She keeps all this stuff until she can give it away." Carlisle insisted. And even Dad knew their pool house was almost as big as our house.

"Do it for Isabella, Charlie. Think how welcome she'd feel coming into a room with everything she needs, all she has to do is pick out colors." Esme tossed out.

"It honestly cost you nothing?" Dad was starting to waiver.

"Truly. Charlie, people from all over the world seek me out to decorate their homes and furniture designers try to sweeten the pot by sending me their best collections. In fact, if there is anything else she needs just let me know and we can go through the 'furniture warehouse' that is in the backyard." She glared at Carlisle for picking on her make shift storage.

"Seriously, Carlisle, did you load this thing up this morning?" I asked.

"No, fortunately last night my darling wife called some of the guys who work for her to load this up." I laughed.

"I texted Jazz, he's on his way over to help us unload." Edward told me.

"Thanks, man." Dad and Carlisle went into the house to get a measuring tape to see if we'd have to take the door off its hinges. And I looked over at Esme, "So, tell me, Esme, how did there just happen to be a full sized bed thrown in?" I joked.

"Well, maybe a certain son of mine mentioned a trip today to buy a bed of that certain size; and since there happens to be a store down the road from my shop that gives me a killer discount… I may or may not have gone ahead and bought it. Though, as far as your Dad knows it was part of this display." She looked and me pointedly and I agreed.

"Si, Momma C." She laughed and two seconds later Jazz pulled up and the fun day of getting this huge furniture into the house began. Looking down at my watch I smiled nine more hours till we go to get Isabella.


	2. Chapter 2

**Beta'd by the lovely TwiDi**

For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).

If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).

**Story Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Chapter 2

Emmett POV

I made a sign that read 'Isabella' on one side and 'Welcome Home' on the other. I figure after she spots us I can flip it over and maybe make her feel more welcome. Dad was trying to play it cool, however his leg kept bouncing up and down. The other people in this little airport kept giving us looks. I think the main draw was Dad's bouncing leg. Which got worse when her plane landed. Wouldn't have been so bad, but he was standing up.

A tall pretty brunette that looked around seventeen came out of the gate wearing trendy clothes and a huge smile. I wonder if that is her? Alice would love a new shopping partner and with the trendy clothing it looks like she is a shopper. And it looks like she is looking right at us. Suddenly she ran past us into the waiting arms of a man and woman whom she referred to as Mom and Dad. Guess that's not her.

"Umm… excuse me, are you Charlie Swan?" A timid voice asked Dad.

She was tiny, a little taller than Alice and clearly thinner. And not in a healthy way. Pale and a mess of long brown hair that had really no style to the cut. Actually it looked like it hadn't been cut by a professional, ever. Her clothing was baggy and had no style to it either. An oversized t-shirt and jeans. She was looking at the ground and seemed nervous. To be honest if she hadn't spoken I probably wouldn't have noticed her.

"Yes, are you Isabella?" Dad asked in a soft voice.

"Yes, sir." She replied still in that sweet little timid voice. She glanced over at me and I caught the sight of the Swan brown eyes. Just like mine and Dad's. Though Isabella's eyes showed her fear and what looked like deep sadness. Poor kid.

"Hey, Isabella, I'm your big brother Emmett." I said in a friendly voice.

"Hi," she mumbled.

"Let's go get your bags and go home." Dad said taking her tiny carryon bag from her and giving her a warm smile.

"Ok." She whispered and followed us over to the baggage claim.

She gently pointed out her two bags. I was honestly shocked how small the bags were. Though, maybe Renee was going to ship the rest of her things to her. We loaded the meager items into my jeep - we had taken the jeep thinking she would have more stuff. She climbed quietly into the back seat and only spoke when we asked her a direct question for the entire ride home.

"So, Isabella, what grade are you going into?" I questioned from the passenger seat.

"Tenth."

"I'll be a senior this year." And she was quiet.

"Yeah, your brother is a football and baseball player. And a damn good one at that." Dad threw out trying to start a conversation, "Are you into any sports, Isabella?"

"No, I'm not really good at sports." She mumbled and I think she blushed.

"So, what do you do for fun?" I asked.

"I like to read." She was so timid. I wondered if we scared her. Maybe she missed her Mom.

"Cool." I said.

We made it home without her saying another word. She had to be the quietest female I'd ever met. She never bitched about the music in the car, even though it was Dad's wangy tangy old school country music.

"Home sweet home," I told her getting out to grab her bags. She followed quietly behind us taking in everything on the short tour of the house.

"And, this is your room, Isabella." Dad told her opening the door. And her big brown eyes opened wide.

"Mine?" She asked softly almost in awe.

"Yep." He affirmed.

She walked into the room slowly taking in everything. She ran her hands over the furniture that Esme had given her. She looked at the bed and slowly sat on it. She had a soft smile cross her face. She took in the desk and desk chair with the pretty white lamp and the small bookshelf and I swear her face looked like she was doing a small internal happy dance.

"This weekend I was thinking we'd go back up to Port Angeles and let you pick out your own bedding and pick a color to paint your room. The boys can get it painted for you in no time." Dad told her.

"Yeah, those sheets and the quilt is on loan from Esme."

"Esme?" She asked.

"My best friend Edward's mom."

"Oh." She looked kind of sad, "It's very nice." She whispered.

"We can get you some just like it if you want." Dad offered.

"Isabella, if you want that set I'm sure Esme will let you keep it. She owns more sheets and blankets then Martha Stewart." I joked.

"No, it's fine I'll get my own. I just didn't want to cause a problem." She whispered looking at the ground.

"It's no problem." Dad assured her, "I'm going to go throw Brenda's chicken casserole in the oven to start heating up."

"So, need any help unpacking?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you." She stood up and grabbed the first bag. It was mainly clothing but there were a few books in there. I watched as she slipped the folded clothing into her dresser.

"There are clothes hangers in your closet." I stood up and went and grabbed her some.

"Thank you," Poor kid she's so timid and soft spoken, we have to do something about that. She picked up the other bag and opened it up. It was mainly books with a couple of sweaters and notebooks that looked well used inside. To be honest, I think I have more clothing than she does.

"So, is Renee shipping you the rest of your stuff?"

"No, this is all of it." She said in that same soft sad voice.

"Ohh…" I paused. I pulled out my cell, "I should probably give you my number in case you need me and I'm not around. Where is your cell I'll program it in?"

"I don't have one." Really?

"Really? Wow. I'll have to write it down and put it on the fridge for you."

"Thank you,"

"Kids, food is done." Dad called from downstairs.

I walked down the stairs and she followed behind me, but not too close. I grabbed a plate and loaded up the casserole and some of Esme's homemade bread that she dropped off this morning. Dad was doing the same. We really were used to just grabbing and chowing. Isabella stood back and when she finally made her plate she put a tiny bit of casserole and a piece of bread.

She ate delicately. Small bites that she chewed to death. Though I could tell she liked it, her little face lit up with the first bite.

"Aren't you hungry?" I blurted out and she stopped eating all together.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Well, you know you can go back for more right?" Dad gave me a look.

"Isabella, this is your home; eat what you want and as much as you want." He told her in the fucking sweetest voice I've ever heard him use.

"Thank you." She went back to her tiny bit of food and back to chewing it to death.

Dad and I finished before her and put our dishes in the sink. When she finished she stood up walked over to the sink and washed all of the dishes. She covered the rest of the leftovers and put them away. Dad looked at me with a raised eyebrow. The kid looked like she was on auto pilot.

"May I be excused to go to my room now?" She asked the floor.

"Of course. If you want a shower there are clean towels in the linen closet at the end of the hall. Help yourself." Dad told her.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She walked quietly from the room, tripping a little over her own feet. I wanted to laugh and pick on her see if I could get her to crack a smile. Though something told me I shouldn't. That she wouldn't smile, she'd take it the wrong way. Something also told me I needed to fill Dad in on her lack of belongings. That shit wasn't cool.

"Dad, those bags she brought with her, that's all her stuff." I said quietly. Yes, when the time comes, I can speak quietly, "There was very little in them. A couple more pairs of pants some tops and ratty old books. Oh and some old notebooks too." Dad's eyes popped open.

"Em, I'm sure Renee is shipping the rest of her stuff."

"No, Dad, I asked. She said that was it. She doesn't even have a cell phone."

"We'll get her one this weekend add her to our plan." He looked so depressed, "Maybe you should talk to Rose and Alice, get them to come over. Maybe they can take stock of her wardrobe and see what she is going to need."

"I'll go call Rose." I jumped up and ran to my room.

Dad might not be the richest man in town but he has a good job and a solid savings plan. Plus he has a little extra he never touches that Grandma and Grandpa Swan left him. And he inherited this house so he doesn't even have a mortgage. So, I know that anything Isabella needs, Dad is going to get her. Hell, at this point he'd probably buy anything she wanted just to see her come alive and smile.

I ran lightly up the stairs. I could hear the shower going and I smiled. At least she felt comfortable enough to do that tonight. Grabbing my cell phone, I hit speed dial one. My baby answered with a sultry, "Hello, sexy."

"Rosie baby, what are you up to?"

"Talking to Alice on messenger and watching Psych reruns." I went over and loaded up my laptop.

"Hey, so listen, I'm going to get on messenger and talk to the both of you. It's kind of important, okay?" She agreed and after everything was loaded up they created a messenger chat room for all of us.

TinybutFierce: Hi Em!

MonkeyMan4Rose: Hey shorty ;)

WayHotterthanU: So, what is the big news, baby?

MonkeyMan4Rose:So, remember when I told you I had a sister? Well, she is here now living with us.

I took a moment to write out the whole story to both of them. I went on to explain how little she had with her and that Dad wanted them to come over to see if she has all the things girls need in her wardrobe and how shy she is.

MonkeyMan4Rose:Poor kid looks like she is afraid of her own shadow and only talks when we ask her a direct question. And I think she might be anorexic because she doesn't eat.

TinybutFierce: Rose and I will be over at 10 in the morning. Gives her time to sleep in and you time to say friends are coming over! Oh shit, Edward is calling me. Gotta go!

Rose confirmed that she'd be over in the morning. We had a few more moments of flirting and talking dirty before I decided to hit the hay. Big day tomorrow, the girls meeting my baby sister.

Charlie's POV

Isabella, my sweet little girl. She was so pretty and her eyes were so like my own. Only she was so timid and reserved. Honestly, I'm a bit worried about her. Maybe it was wrong to tell Em to let the girls come over tomorrow. She might not be up to Alice's energy and Rose's blunt personality. Don't get me wrong, they are both wonderful girls. Rose just seems bitchy till you get to know her, but once you get past her outer walls and she cares, you have a loyal friend and defender for life. And Alice is a sweet little bundle of energy, who should never be let near caffeine. She is just as loyal and just as much of a fighter as Rose, only she comes with a softer shell.

Isabella needs things though. And I know nothing about the needs of teenage girls, so calling them in seemed like the smart thing to do.

I can't believe that bitch sent her here with two tiny bags and a carry on no bigger than a purse.

The look on her sweet face when she saw her room made my night. Hell, it made my week. She actually smiled a little. A sweet smile like having furniture in a room of her own was something she never expected. I really need to thank Esme again for thinking of it. And for saving me a ton of money that can now go towards getting my baby girl anything she needs.

I feel like the luckiest man in the world, I have both my kids under my roof and I know they are safe. Maybe I should get Carlisle to look over Isabella and make sure she is healthy. Also, I need to get her medical records. I just don't trust Renee.

I think I might take Friday off work and have a long weekend with the kids. I haven't used any vacation time yet this year; and it would give us extra time to fix up Isabella's room. Sounds like a plan to me.

Rose's POV

I can't believe that shit didn't tell me his sister was coming to town. Ugh! He's lucky I love him so damned much that I can forgive him hiding this from me. Honestly, I'm a bit worried. He kept going on and on about how quiet and timid the girl is. I don't want to scare her. I just can't always help the way I get. Hopefully, the girl was just tired last night and would be more talkative today.

Looks like Alice beat me here. Edward's Volvo was parked behind Em's jeep.

"Hey, Rose!" Alice called getting out of the car.

"Morning, Rose." Edward added grabbing some bag from the back seat.

"Alice, Eddie. How does this morning find you?"

"Edward, not Eddie! Edward." He grumbled and I had to laugh. I love picking on that boy with his anal retentiveness about his name.

"I'm so excited, I can't wait to meet her I just know we're going to be best friends!" Alice bounced. God, I hope the energizer bunny doesn't scare the poor girl.

I knocked on the door and Em answered it pulling me into a warm embrace and a hot kiss. God, I love my monkey man. He greeted the others and then pulled us into the living room where this small bundle of brown hair and dowdy clothing sat pressed far into the end of the sofa like she was trying to be invisible.

"Isabella, this is my girlfriend Rosalie. We call her Rose, though. Shorty here is Alice, or shorty; and the pretty boy is Edward my best friend." Emmett told her, "Guys, this is my baby sister Isabella." She gave a small smile but didn't really look at any of us.

"Hi, Isabella!" Alice ran over and pulled the now shock-stiff girl into her arms for a hug, "We're so going to be best friends." The poor thing hesitantly patted Alice on her back while pulling back at the same time like she wasn't sure how to handle this show of affection.

"Hey, Eddie, what's with the pink man-bag there, bud?" Emmett teased.

"It's Edward, God, people get the name right." He looked at Isabella, "Be warned, Isabella, this bag is full of things my sister Alice plans to inflict on you." Isabella jumped and pushed completely away from Alice. Hell, she was using the sofa as a shield at this point.

"Umm…" She mumbled and kept looking at the stairs. Edward looked horrified. He realized that he had scared her when he was only trying to be funny. He walked slowly over to the girl and leaned down eye level with her. I swear she stopped breathing.

"It's ok, Isabella, it's just things for manicures and fashion magazines. You're safe here, little one." His voice was tender. Hell, I've never heard Edward sound so sweet and calming before. She stared up into his eyes and he smiled gently at her; lightly moving her hair that was falling in her eyes behind her ears, "It's ok, Isabella, everything is going to be ok." He said in the same tone of voice.

And I was shocked when in a voice so small, I wasn't sure I actually heard, she replied, "Bella."

"You prefer being called Bella?" He asked with the smile that caused most girls at school, including the teachers to want to drop their panties for him. Not that Edward was a man-whore. In fact, he was a great guy and very picky about whom he dates.

"Yes please." She whispered again.

"Bella, the name suits you. And it's not quite a mouthful as saying 'Isabella' all the time." He joked and I swear he winked at her. Her sweet face flushed red. Emmett was grinning like he just won the lotto.

"What?" I whispered in his ear.

"Saying Bella is the first thing she has said that wasn't a response to a direct question." He seemed excited. And while I was happy for him I wondered what had happened to this girl to make her this timid and shy. And I also gave an internal giggle that she seemed to be just as susceptible to Edward's charms as around ninety percent of the rest of the female population. The other ten included die-hard lesbians he couldn't crack and his Grandmother who would smack his head and tell him not to sass her.

Alice POV

Poor sweet girl. Poor sweet fashion disaster. I so have to take her shopping and to the hair salon. Oh, maybe a day at the spa!

She seems so sweet and I can't wait for her to open up some so we can be best friends. I heard what Emmett told Rose about Bella being her first word that wasn't a direct answer and I gave an internal giggle. She is probably like most girls and crushing a little on my big brother. It's ok though, she can talk about her crush on Edward while I tell her about my undying love and devotion for Jasper. Sigh. Jasper.

"Shorty, did you just say Jasper and sigh?" Damn you, Emmett!

"I think I asked 'where is Jasper'. You need hearing aids, old man." Ha! I got out of it.

"Yeah, right." Fuck guess not.

"Bella, do you like to shop?" I asked with enthusiasm.

"Ummm..." She looked at the floor then at Emmett, "Do I need to go shopping?"

"Well, Bella," He smiled big on her nickname, "With the little bit you have to work with, you'll probably need to do some shopping." She looked so sad.

"Oh. Where is the store?"

"Port Angeles is the nearest place to get anything of quality." I told her and her eyes bugged.

"I have to go all the way back up there to buy food?" She said a little bit above the soft whisper she had been using. Then looked back down, "Sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, little one. And they meant clothes shopping." Edward assured her and she smiled at him.

"Oh." She responded.

"So, do you like clothes shopping?" I bounced.

"Not really, I'm sorry." She looked at the floor. And flushed embarrassed, "And I really can't afford to go." Wow, a whole two sentences, even though the latter was barely audible.

"Bella, trust me you can afford to go. Dad's got you covered." Emmett smiled at her. You could tell he was bursting at the seams with excitement that she is talking a little.

"I couldn't ask him for that, he's already given me a home." She said in her soft sweet voice.

"Trust me, kid, he wouldn't mind in fact it would make his day." Emmett assured her.

"I have clothes." She said firmly then flushed.

"You can never have too much clothing." I informed her.

"Honey, if all your clothes are like what you're wearing, you have to go shopping. You don't want to embarrass Charlie by looking like you came dressed in the reject clothing from the Goodwill." Rose said bluntly and I wanted to smack her. She doesn't mean anything by it, but she just has no filter to stop what she is thinking from coming out of her mouth. Poor Bella her little eyes welled up with tears and her face was bright red.

"Umm…" Is all she said before she pushed past Edward and raced up the stairs. I heard a door slam and Edward growl.

"Rosalie, you are such a bitch!" He was growling. Holy shit! I didn't know he could do that. Edward, big brother, don't do that for the girls at school they'll try to rape you.

"Rosie, damnit!" Emmett, for the first time I can remember, yelled at Rose, "God! Can't you see the kid is scared of her own shadow and she doesn't know you like we do; so, she has no clue you weren't trying to be mean. Fuck! If she goes further into her shell, Dad is going to kill me."

"Rose, really that was just cold." I added my two cents, "I'm going to try and talk to her."

"Alice, I'm not sure that is a good idea." Edward says putting his hand on my shoulder and looking up the stairs with a sad look in his eyes.

"No, I think it's a great idea, she needs a friend Edward and I'm going to be there for her." I pushed past him and up the stairs. I know which room is hers because the other two bedrooms have been occupied by Charlie and Em forever. I knock on the door gently.

"Bella, it's just me Alice can I come in, sweetie?"

"Ok." She mumbles and I walk in to find her sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest crying. I quickly walk over and pull her stiff frame into my arms.

"Oh, Bella, Rose is just a bitch sometimes she didn't mean to be mean." Her body is so thin and I'm starting to wonder if Em is right about the eating disorder.

"It's fine." She whispers, hiding behind her hair.

"How about we go downstairs and get some lunch?" I just want to feed her, then we'll talk makeovers.

"Umm… I guess I can cook."

"Oh, please, Bella, let's just order pizza!" I cheered. I really didn't expect her to cook for us all.

"Ok."

I grabbed her arm and dragged her downstairs. Rose and Emmett were sitting side by side on the sofa not talking and Edward was pacing in front of the living room bay window pulling on his hair and pinching the bridge of his nose. I swear the quiet girl beside me giggled a little under her breath at the sight of my brother and his nervous twitches.

"He gets that from our Dad. Mom can't figure out how he's gone forty-eight years without going bald with all that hair pulling." She giggled a little louder and Edward's eyes jerked over to us. He took in the small smile on her face and grinned back.

"Hi," He says and she blushes. Oh my God, that is so sweet.

"Pizza for lunch?" I throw out and Emmett squeals like a five year old on Christmas morning.

"Hell yes!" He's already ordering.

"Listen, Bella," Rose says coming at Bella, who has moved to stand slightly behind me. She is also positioned to run up the stairs. This girl has mad escapage skills I think, "I don't always filter my thoughts and I'm sorry. Ok?" Not really an apology, Rose. I rolled my eyes.

"Ok." She whispers then looks at Emmett, "Is it ok if I go back to my room now?"

"Bella, don't you want pizza?" I asked.

"I'm not hungry." She says even though I hear her tummy growl.

"Go ahead, Bella." Emmett says softly. She rushes back up the stairs and he glares at Rose.

"Rosalie, your fucking apology sounded like the same insult worded differently. God! Can't you see how fucking timid and scared my sister is?" He's pissed. Emmett has always been the champion of the weak and I think because this one is family, he is more so. Though what comes out of his mouth next shocks the shit out of me, "Listen, Rosie, I love you, but I think maybe you should go home for now. Bella doesn't feel comfortable around you right now and honestly, I'm pissed off that you were so mean to my baby sister. Intentional or not."

"Emmett!" She sounds shocked. I don't think anyone has ever asked Rose to leave before.

"No, Rose, you need to realize that your actions and words do affect people. You need to find a filter. Just because you are the hottest woman on earth, it doesn't give you the right to say anything at any time."

Go, Em. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Rose like a sister but that wasn't cool what she did to Bella.

"Fine, whatever." She storms out.

"You know you're going to be kissing her ass for weeks to get her to talk to you let alone to get any." Edward jokes.

"Yeah, well, to quote Rose, whatever." Emmett says in a very serious voice.

"Yeah whatever. Now let's get some pizza and get Bella to come back and play with us so I can get a look inside her closet." They both looked at me, "The shopping, guys, I need the shopping." I faked being an addict needing a fix since they always joke shopping is my heroin addiction.

"I'll go get her this time." Emmett says and runs up the stairs.

"Al, I think her Mom did a real number on her." My brother says looking serious.

"I think so too, Edward." I walked over and into his arms for a hug and thanked God that I had my big brother my whole life and a set of parents who I had always known. I also thanked him because I always knew that I was loved. And I have a feeling that Bella has never felt like she was loved in her whole life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beta'd by the lovely TwiDi**

For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).

If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).

**Story Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Chapter 3

Alice's POV

Emmett returned with Bella about twenty minutes after going up to talk her back down again. I really wanted to smack Rosalie for hurting Bella. The pizza came five minutes after Bella and Em made their reappearance. She sat quietly not looking at any of us as she munched slowly on her one slice. I had three to her one in the same space of time. Though, I have to say, her face looked euphoric while she ate. Em tried to get her to eat another slice but she declined blushing. Edward motioned for him not to push her. Now, I'm upstairs in her closet looking at her clothing that would in fact be rejected by the Goodwill. Not that I'd say that out loud. Poor Bella.

"So, tomorrow we are going to Port Angeles with Charlie and Emmett to shop." I told her firmly.

"Ok." She has reverted back to answering questions and saying nothing else.

"Bella I was wondering your hair is such a pretty color and it looks great on you long,"

God, please, no lightening. I'm trying to help her. It is a pretty color at least; I think it is amongst all the dry dead hairs.

"Would it be ok if I trimmed your ends? Long hair needs that done all the time and I bet it would lay a little smoother for you if I did it." She gave a timid smile.

"I guess," I did an internal happy dance. I can fix her hair before Port Angeles. Hmm, I wonder if I have anything that would fit her to wear?

"Cool, let me go get my bag of magic from the boys, they don't need it unless they've decided to paint each other's nails." She gives a small giggle. Good, we are loosening back up. I run lightly down the stairs and find Em and Edward watching ESPN. Gah! Guys!

"Hey, Shorty." Em greets, Edward looks behind me. Aha! He's looking for Bella.

"Hey, guys, I need my bag. Bella is going to let me trim up her ends. I figure it is a start until I can get her into a salon." I can put some shape into it and get rid of some of the dead ends. A salon can fix the rest.

"Be gentle." Edward warns.

"No problem." I smile.

"Hey, so how bad is the clothing situation?" Em whispers.

"Well, nothing a mall can't fix. She needs everything. And I mean everything." Emmett looks crestfallen. I know he is upset at how neglected his sister seems to have been. A clear sign of neglect is the fact she has nothing decent to wear and I'm talking underwear that was probably new two years ago.

"I hate Renee even more now. I can't believe she stole her from Dad just to do whatever she has to the kid."

"I know, Em." I hug him and I can tell he's holding back tears.

"Dad and Mom are coming by after Charlie gets off work. Dad is going to give an unofficial inspection to see if he can see anything wrong with her. Charlie is worried about malnutrition or signs of abuse." Edward tells me.

"Good, Daddy will be able to get a good read on her. His undergrad degree in psychology will finally come in handy." Edward nods, he knows it's true.

"I better get back up there before she thinks I've abandoned her." I smile at the guys and go back to Bella's room. She is in the same position on the bed, not having moved an inch. I notice she is gazing out the window with a soft expression on her face, "It's a great view." I comment. It really was. She has a small bay window in the front of the house she could see the street, the trees and watch as the people go by. She turns to me and gives a sad smile.

"I like having a window." Is all she says.

"You ready?" I ask, not sure I want to know what she meant by that. I have visions of a dark cave, or damp cold basement where they made her live.

"Ok."

"Let's do this in the bathroom it will be easier to clean up." She agrees and grab her desk chair so she has a place to sit when she goes in, "Trust me, Bella." She gives a slight inclination of her head and closes her eyes tight.

Grabbing one of Charlie's bath towels I wrap it around her shoulders. God they are so frail looking. I grab my empty squirt bottle and fill it with warm water then dampen her hair. Combing it, through, was a challenge because of the length; it was almost touching her ass. And, God! The knots and tangles were a bitch, I almost wanted to scream. Slowly I separate the hair some and then begin cutting around four inches off her hair. I put some light layers in; and all in all, it looks pretty good. It now hung a little past her breast and you could see it was a darker brown than the split ends made it seem.

I found a hot oil treatment and got her to use it. After that was done I blew it dry and I have to say it was beautiful. I mean a salon trip is still needed to give it just a little more 'wow power', but the rich brown had all sorts of highlights going on and giving it just that little bit of style changed her so much. You could see how pretty she really is. Smiling, I reached into my magic bag and found my mud mask for the face and I applied it to her face. She looks nervous but I assure her it is fine. Half an hour later I have waxed her eyebrows, washed off the mask and given her a deep moisture treatment. Let me just say, Bella Swan is one beautiful girl. Once we can get some food into her to fill her out some, she is going to have the boys running after her. Charlie is going to need to keep his shot gun loaded.

Edward POV

Em and I have been watching TV for over an hour and it has been quiet up in the land of girls. I'm a bit worried my sister has taken Bella hostage to force her will upon the poor sweet girl. Bella is now a victim of Alice's need to beautify the world.

"How much longer?" Emmett asked for the fifth time.

"I have no clue." Seriously dude they are girls I have no idea.

"Hey, kids." Charlie comes in from work in uniform smiling. I don't think he has stopped smiling since he found out he was getting Bella.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Charlie."

"Where is Isabella?" He says her name with reverence like she is the most precious thing in the world.

"Alice is holding Bella hostage upstairs doing girlie shit to her." Emmett tells his Dad.

"Bella?" Charlie smiles again.

"Yep, she told pretty boy over here she prefers to be called Bella. It seems if we want her to talk all we have to do is have Edward around." Em laughs.

"Well, alright then." Charlie looks a little uncomfortable and gives me a small assessing look, "If it had to be any guy, I guess she at least picked the best." He mumbles. What the hell? Bella is just a sweet little girl and she needed reassurance and I gave it to her. That is all.

"Hey, Charlie!" Alice squeals launching herself into the police chief's arms.

"Hey, Alice." He gives her a little hug and pats her on the head. Charlie is a sucker for Alice's charms.

"So, we are going to the mall tomorrow." She tells him firmly, "Bella needs everything." She says with a sigh. Charlie frowns a little.

"That bad?" He asks somberly.

"Yeah, that bad, Charlie." She whispers and I barely hear her.

The knock at the door signaled the arrival of my parents. Esme was bursting at the seams wanting to see Bella for the first time and Carlisle was worried that something might be seriously wrong with the girl. Alice went back upstairs to collect her as we all sat quietly in Charlie's living room.

It was a shock to see her coming down the stairs. Though still in the same horrible clothing she looked so much better. Her hair was alive with colors and warmth. He face glowed clean and smooth. She met my eyes and I was struck by how beautiful she really is. Beautiful yet still so timid and sad. She jumped a little when she saw my parents. I think she was worried they would be like that bitch Rosalie.

"Bella, this is my Mom Esme and my Dad Carlisle. Mom, Dad this is Bella Swan." I introduced them walking over to her. It was almost like her whole body relaxed as I got closer to her. I reached out and took her small hand into mine and brought her into the room with the others. She squeezed it tight when my Mom unable to contain herself pounced on Bella for a hug, "And, Bella, you can see where Alice gets it from now." I joke and Bella gives a sweet smile.

"Hi." She says in her sweet voice.

"Hi, sweetheart." Esme hugs her again and everyone laughs.

"Please forgive my wife, she is a hugger." Dad jokes coming to shake her hand. He is secretly giving her an exam both physical and mental. I can see the calculation in his eyes. He's worried.

"Ok." She says again.

"Well, dinner is in the car and it's still warm. I hope you like lasagna, Bella?" Mom asks her. Her face scrunches up and she looks so adorable.

"I don't know." She whispers.

"Well, we'll find out tonight won't we, dear?" Mom smiles and pats her. I'm a little shocked that it seemed like this child has never had lasagna before. I swear I thought everyone has had it at least once in their lives, "Girls, could you help me get the food from the car?" Mom asks and both Bella and Alice follow her out.

"Carlisle?" Charlie asks.

"She is malnourished. Anyone can see she is under weight. However, looking at her skin tone and the whites of her eyes tells me that she is missing some vital vitamins and nutrients from her body. I'd need to do a work up to give a more concrete answer on what she needs. She is seriously underweight though."

"Wait till you see her eat." Emmett says looking like a lost little boy.

"She is very shy and you can see she is terrified. She seems frightened of human touch and affection like she isn't sure how to handle it and she doesn't keep eye contact for more than a second or two. Honestly, I think she has been neglected and possibly a victim of some form of abuse. As timid as she is, I recommend letting her settle in a little longer and gain her trust some. Then in a month or so, try talking about therapy." I looked out the window and Mom was stalling the girls. Good Mom.

"Abuse?" Charlie was white as a sheet.

"Charlie, there are several forms of abuse. And, honestly, I have found that mental abuse can leave more scars than physical. A bruise on the outside can heal a lot quicker than years of having whatever beaten into your brain."

"That bitch." Emmett grunts.

"I do have to say if she seems to be getting worse, we get her into a therapist immediately. However, from what Edward told me on the phone earlier, she seems to be better today than she was last night." Emmett had filled me in on how bad she had been the night before and I told my Dad all about it.

"True. Last night I don't think Alice could have gotten near her with the scissors. And she never spoke unless asked something first." Charlie agreed.

"Maybe we can find out what we need to know without putting her into a therapist office." Dad tells Charlie.

"Food is here!" Mom calls out to let us know they have arrived back.

Two trays of lasagna, homemade Italian bread and it looks like her homemade banana pudding for dessert. Hot fucking damn.

Emmett and I got the plates and silverware out while Alice and Bella get the lids off the lasagna. I had to hide a smile when I noticed Bella's little nose twitch when she smelled the food. She blushed and I swear I heard her stomach growl. What struck me as odd, though, is when we went to fix our plates, she stepped back and waited till last. She then took a small portion and a slice of bread. The portion was so small I wasn't sure it would fill up a two year old let alone a fifteen year old. Mom noticed too.

"So, Bella. Charlie says you are going into tenth grade?"

"Yes, ma'am." She says. She goes back to looking at her plate and taking small bites and chewing it to death. I didn't know it could take a person that long to chew a bite. Alice noticed it too. She stood up and went back to the food.

"I never put enough on my plate the first time; I always have to go back for more." She giggles, "Anyone else want more while I'm up?" Emmett jumps and runs for seconds, "Bella, you want some more?" Bella blushes and looks at her plate.

"Umm… I'm…" Mom cut her off.

"Bella, do you not like it, sweetheart?" She gives Bella that look she uses on us that always gets her, her own way.

"It's wonderful." Bella says a little in awe.

"Well then, that settles it." Mom stands up takes Bella's plate and puts more on it. Not a ton but a regular size serving she'd give herself. Bella's big eyes bulged but she didn't complain. She looked around the table and went back to eating. However, I noticed that she was taking less time to chew now and slightly bigger bites. Charlie could barely hold back his smile.

Esme POV

Bella finished up her plate long after the rest of us were done. Sorry, let me rectify that; long after everyone but Edward was done. He had gone back for seconds and took the longest time eating it, so she wasn't left eating alone. He had the gentlest look about him when he gazed at her. He also seemed to be almost on guard, as if one wrong move towards Bella and he'd kill or maim someone.

We had all moved back into the living room and were talking about the next day. Alice was all excited about shopping tomorrow, I have to remember to pull her aside and warn her that Charlie can't afford Armani and Prada. I also need to let her know to slip some of the charges onto her black card without letting Charlie know. Hell, maybe I should go with them.

"Charlie, would it be ok if I joined all of you on this shopping trip tomorrow?" We can steal Carlisle's Mercedes SUV it will fit us all.

"You are more than welcome, Esme." He looked relieved. Not that I blame him. Emmett alone expends a ton of energy; throw in Alice and anyone would be worn out. You could tell he is worried about how Bella would be in such a packed public place and also the unknown of teenage girls shopping needs.

"Great!" I smiled, "Now, kids, I think we should be heading out so we can be well-rested for tomorrow." Edward shook his head.

"Hey, Mom, I'm gonna crash out here on the sofa in case I'm needed, could you bring me some clean clothes for the morning?" In case he is needed?

"Edward…?" I wanted to ask 'needed for what?', when Emmett cut me off.

"Yeah, Esme, we might need him." He gave a pointed glance at Bella who was sitting closest to Edward, his hand brushing the back of hers every so often. I swear she seemed to relax every time he did that.

"Ok, that's fine. I'm sure Alice will enjoy picking you out something to wear." I joked and she started bouncing. My daughter's eyes glazed over as she mentally went through her brother's closet to pick the perfect outfit. Edward groaned knowing that look.

"Comfortable shoes, Ali, we will be walking a lot." She gave a little huff.

"Ok, fine." He gave her a small hug and she giggles, "You are so lucky I love you, big brother." He smiles at her.

"I love you, too, Ali cat." I saw Emmett glance wistfully at Bella while he watched my two babies' exchange. Bella blushed and looked away from the display of affection. She seems uncomfortable, poor baby. I walk over to her and hug her.

"I will see you in the morning, sweetheart." She gives me a small smile.

"Ok."

Emmett POV

She ate! We've learned that the trick was to fix her plate ourselves. At least it worked when Esme did it. I'd have to try it tomorrow see if it works for me too.

I watched Edward and Alice's farewell earlier and wanted to hug Bella so bad. I wanted to tell her I love her, but I was worried she wouldn't take me seriously this soon into knowing her. I will tell her soon though and hug her tiny ass.

Right now she is sitting in the corner of the sofa again, with Edward at her side watching the first Transformers movie. She seems content next to Edward, relaxed even. I noticed that every so often, he would brush his hand against hers. He did that at dinner too. Her body seems to relax even more when he does that. God, that is weird.

Charlie POV

I have to admit I'm a little jealous that Esme got Bella to eat as much as she did. I'm a lot jealous though that my daughter seems so attached to Edward so quickly. It was almost like he makes her feel safe, the way she seems to want to stay near him. It also hasn't escaped me that every time Edward moves she seems to shift to follow automatically. They are moving almost in time with one another. Like there is some sort of gravitational pull surrounding them; that when one shifts the other must as well. It's kind of freaking me out a little.

"Kids, it's ten I think we should call it a night since we have to get up early in the morning." I tell them. Bella automatically stands up, "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Night." She whispers. She looks at the ground and goes upstairs. Poor baby.

"Night, Dad." Em gives me a weak smile and follows his sister upstairs.

"Night, Charlie." Edward smiles and reaches into the coffee table chest to pull out the spare pillow and blanket kept there for sleepovers.

"Edward, son, just be careful." He smiles.

"Of course, Charlie." I'm not sure he gets my meaning, but I say goodnight again and walk up the stairs.

Alice POV

Bella was being difficult. For someone so quiet and passive she could be a stonewall of stubbornness when you take her shopping. She looks at a price before she looks at the clothes. It's driving me insane. After three hours of shopping, we've spent a total of fifty bucks and have two bags of clearance rack clothing. It's the only place she'll actually get clothes from. Hmm… I know her sizes now.

"Charlie, come here." I demand pulling him over to me, "Take Bella and the boys and go look at paint. I'm going to go shopping for clothes. We'll just hang them up and cut off the tags so she can't say no." Charlie grinned at me.

"Go do your magic, Alice, but remember her taste might not be the same as yours." He warned.

"Not a problem, I'm taking Mom with me." I gave him a huge grin and pulled Mom away explaining my plan.

"Genius, baby girl."

"Macy's first. I have this feeling Bella is more conservative then I am, so we'll start there." Mom agreed and we started shopping. Charlie had slipped me his credit card but to be honest we avoided using it. Mom and Dad have more money than they know what to do with so we're tapping into some of that old school money that just sits and gains interest and using it to shop.

"We should probably pick her up a few sun dresses for the summer parties as well as jeans and t-shirts." Mom tells me.

"Yeah. Also, cute shorts and tops are a must!" I giggle as I almost scream that across the store.

"Did you get her shoe size?" Mom asks.

"No, but looking at those ratty sneakers, which I swear are Old Navy cheapies I know she needs new shoes." Mom nods.

"Let me call, Edward." She steps off to the side and calls my brother to see if he can find out Bella's shoe size while I take a moment to hit the Clinique counter and get her some basics. The normal skin care set, some mascara, a light peachy pink blush and some sheer lip gloss. Just the summer basics. Later, when she trusts me more, I will get her into makeup.

Mom comes back and we go in search of shoes for Bella. I, of course, see a cute pair of pumps for myself and squeal with delight. Mom laughs at me and we keep going. Some ballet flats in the basic brown, black, white and bronze colors. Sandals in the same colors and also a cute pair to match the sun dress I got her for Edward's birthday party. Sneakers and one pair of heels rounds out the shoes. Well, Mom throws in a pair of brown flip flops as well.

We then run over to the beauty counters again and pick up some decent shampoo and conditioner for Bella. I buy two bottles of each, she has a lot of hair compared to me and I'm not sure how long a bottle will last her. Mom assures me that it's about the same amount of time (Mom has long hair too), but I just wanted to make sure. I might not be able to fix all of Bella's problems or make up for what has happened to her in the past, but I can sure as hell help her confidence by making her look her best.

Rose POV

My eyes are puffy and I look like shit. He didn't even call me last night to apologize like he generally does when we fight. Not that he's ever stood up to me before. I'll be honest most fights are my fault. Meaning my nature takes over and I start them.

I grab my phone and dial his number.

"Yeah?" He asks in a clipped voice.

"Em, do you want to do something today?" I ask like nothing happened.

"No. I'm in Port Angeles with my family and most of the Cullens shopping for Bella." He says in the coldest voice I've ever heard him use.

"Oh." I guess I was no longer invited to go shopping with them.

"Listen, Rosalie, I have to go." And he hung up on me. Damn. I dial Alice's number.

"Hello?" She says like she is distracted.

"Hey, Ali."

"Oh, hi, Rosalie." She sounds like she'd rather be talking to anyone else but me.

"What's up?"

"I'm shopping." Clipped and to the point.

"Oh, that sounds like fun, are you going to be there for a while? I can drive up there and meet you and we can shop some together." Yeah, I was using Alice a little, but I miss Em so much.

"Listen, Rose, I'm shopping with Bella and I don't think she is really comfortable around you right now. You really owe her a major apology."

"Ali, I tried to apologize." I argue.

"No, Rose, you just reworded your earlier insult. God, Rose, she is scared of her own shadow and you made her uncomfortable in her own home. You are so lucky no one told Charlie." She is sounding colder and colder, "I gotta go." And that is the second person to hang up on me today.

Fuck my life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**Chapter 4**

**Em's POV**

God, it felt good to get some sleep. After getting home from the mall late yesterday, Alice had invited herself to sleep over. When Dad looked in to check on the girls, he called me over to see. Alice was taking up most of Bella's bed and snoring. I swear the girl sounded like a freight train, she was so loud. Bella on the other hand, laid still making no noise. If I hadn't seen her stomach moving with her breathing, I would have thought she was dead. Poor kid as quiet in sleep as she is awake.

"Hey, Em!" Alice said as she walked by me. She had a devilish smile on her face.

"Hey, Shorty, what's up?"

"Just making sure Bella takes advantage of her new clothing." She giggled, "She talks in her sleep some." I laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she mumbled indignantly about two hundred dollars for a t-shirt." Alice bounced.

"Ha! Yeah, her face was priceless when you shoved that t-shirt in her arms and she caught sight of the price."

"Hey, kids." Dad called coming in the kitchen and heading for the pot of Joe.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Charlie." Alice gives him a kiss on the cheek and he blushes, "So, anyways as I was saying, I made sure Bella has to take advantage of the new clothing. The clothes she brought with her were in really bad shape. I mean _bad_." Alice pouted her eyes got damp with tears.

"It's ok, Alice, we've got her now. That bitch can't hurt her anymore." I gave her a hug before sitting back down.

"How exactly did you '_make sure'_, Alice?" Dad asks looking a little nervous. He should I mean this is Alice.

"Oh, I put all her old clothes in a bag and hid them away. Then I took all the new ones, cut the tags off and put them away in her closet and drawers." She looked proud of herself, "I then left her out something to wear today so she wouldn't be too overwhelmed with all the choices." I had to laugh, Alice should be thinking about going into the military, she could do battle strategy for them.

"Hi," The soft whisper of my sister's voice dragged my head to the doorway. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail and was dressed in a pair of long dark denim shorts a pink t-shirt with a light pattern to it and pink designer sneakers. She looked like a normal teenager for once, instead of like a homeless person.

"Hey, kiddo, how are you this morning?" Dad asks in that sweet voice he uses just with Bella.

"Umm… ok." She looks around the kitchen and a small frown graces her face. Huh, what's up with that? "I can make pancakes?" She offers. Hell, yeah!

"Please!" I beg getting up to pull her into a bear hug. Her big brown eyes almost pop out of her head and she looks scared shitless, "Oops, my bad." I set her down and she backs away a little.

"Pancakes sound nice, sweetheart." Dad tells her. He then shoots me a look that clearly says, _'what the fuck are you thinking, dipshit?'_

"Ok." She mumbles and once again she is like on autopilot. She gets everything she needs together and starts cooking. The smell was fucking wonderful.

"Bella, you look so cute!" Alice tells her with an extreme amount of enthusiasm.

"You really do look very pretty, Bella." Dad tells her as well I add a 'yep cute', all while salivating over the smell of her homemade pancakes.

"Thanks." She says in her small voice, a blush gracing her face.

She finished making the pancakes. There was a huge plate of them that she sat in the middle of the table. She then proceeded to set the table and brings over warmed maple syrup to the table. To be honest I was a little shocked when she took the bottle and dumped it into a bowl then nuked it up. I piled up my plate and ladled some of the syrup on them. Holy shit! Warm syrup is fuck awesome. And her pancakes are out of this world. Like the best pancakes I've ever eaten and I've had Momma Whitlock's and Esme's pancakes.

"So good." I moan around the next huge bite of food. I look up when I hear the sweetest sound. Bella was looking at me giggling. I made her laugh! I gave myself an internal high five. Dad even looked at me like he was proud of me. Then he took his first bite of pancakes and gross I think we just all witnessed Dad's orgasm face.

"Bella, oh my God, these are so awesome!" Alice says bouncing in her seat.

"Thanks." She giggles. Though I'm sad to see she has just one pancake herself and very little syrup.

"Morning, all..." Edward greets coming into the room. Bella blushes and jumps to grab him a plate.

"Try these, Eddie." I groan into another bite.

"It's _Edward_." He rolls his eyes at me. He takes the plate from Bella and gives her a sweet smile, "You look very pretty this morning, little one." And she blushes harder. I cover my laugh in a cough.

"Thank you." She says shyly. Aww… so cute. Edward sat down and took a bite of the pancakes.

"Holy shit! These are even better than Mom's." Bella gets the cutest grin on her face at his praise.

"Thank you." She says again.

**Edward's POV**

I'm a sick pervert. This poor sweet girl who has been through God-knows what shows a little leg in some shorts and my cock gets hard. Damn! Nice legs. Must not think that way about Emmett's little sister. Damn! She can cook.

"Bella, would you like to go grocery shopping with Em and I later?" Charlie asks. I think his eyes are gleaming. Either he is happy she might do something with them as a family, or he is hoping she can cook other things as well as these pancakes. Got to tell Mom about warming the syrup. Yum.

"Ok." She gives a little nod. Alice picks up her buzzing cell and groans.

"We gotta go, big brother. Dad is summoning us." I laugh at her little pout. I think she was hoping to go to the grocery store to. With Alice; shopping is shopping.

"Ok, thanks so much for these kick ass pancakes, Bella." I gently rubbed my hand on the top of her head and she gave me a soft grin.

"Thank you." Ok generally people say you're welcome but if that is what works for Bella, I'll deal with it.

Alice gives everyone a hug and we quickly jet out the door. Alice crawls into the passenger side of my Volvo, aka Lola… and we take a smooth ride home. God, I love Lola.

**Bella's POV**

The grocery store is a lot smaller than the ones I was used to before. This whole place is a lot smaller than where I was before.

"Bella, you want to push the cart?" The big one, Emmett asks me. He's supposed to be my brother. At least that is what he told me.

"Ok." I push knowing that I would be doing most of the shopping anyways. Renee had already told me what I was here for. I felt a wave of nausea pass over me at the thought of Renee. I would be good so they won't send me back to her.

"So, what do you like to eat?" Umm… food is always good I thought. I've been without it enough times in my life to not worry how it tastes as long as it kept the cramps out of my stomach.

"Anything is ok with me. But umm…" I didn't want to be a pain.

"What sweetheart?"

"I'm allergic to shellfish. I can eat regular fish just no shellfish." I blush again, I know it's weird but I can't help it.

"I am too." Emmett adds.

"Ok, then." Charlie smiles, "How about we hit the fresh fruit and veggies first."

"Ok," I have no idea what to call him, I guess Chief Swan?

We walk through the store picking up all sorts of food items. And we really needed to. Their house had hardly anything in it. If I'm expected to have a decent meal for them on the table I need ingredients to work with.

"Hey, Em, Chief Swan." A red headed girl says. She is our checkout clerk.

"Hey, Vick, what's up?" Emmett asks her.

"Hello, Victoria, how are you?" Charlie asks politely.

"Good. Hi." She gives me a smile and I give her a timid one back.

"Vicky, this is my baby sister, Bella. Bella this is Victoria Graham, a friend from school."

"Hi." I say.

"Hi," She gives me a bigger smile, "Are you going to Forks High in the fall?" I nod, "What year?"

"Sophomore."

"Cool, I'll be a senior. Hey, if you need any help checking the place out, let me know, ok?" I give her a genuine smile. She is so pretty and way nicer than Emmett's blond friend.

"Thanks."

"No, prob, I remember being new here too." She winks at me.

Charlie pays the three hundred dollars for the food. We really had to get everything from flour and sugar to milk, bread and eggs. I felt bad that I cost him so much, but I promised myself that I will make him a wonderful dinner to make up for it. In the car a thought crosses my mind. Should I ask it? Renee always said that I should only speak when spoken to and that no one wants to hear my shrill voice. I speak quietly because I learned the hard way about speaking in a normal voice. Ok, breathe they have been nice so far, even if they let the little one take all of my clothing. I guess she did replace it with better ones, but are those really mine?

"Bella, anything special you want to do?" Charlie asks me.

"Is there a library?" I was internally thanking him for asking first so I could ask.

"Sure, it's kind of small but we have one." I give him a smile; he seems to like seeing me smile. He always smiles back, "How about we drop these things at the house and I'll take you there?" I give a nod.

"Please," He smiles.

"Ok, sweetheart."

"Really, we have a library?" Emmett asks seriously. I have to hold back my laughter.

"Yes, son, we do." Charlie isn't holding back his.

"Well, damn, I might go there one day. Today, I have to go handle something." I wonder what he has to handle? I wonder if Edward was going to be there?

We unloaded and Charlie took me to the library where I found some cookbooks to get ideas from. Renee – _shudder_ - and I basically had baked chicken, fried hamburgers or pancakes. That's all she would pay for and I was very lucky when she would spend enough to get enough for me as well.

"Hey, Bella?" Charlie pulled me out of my thoughts. I look over at him, "We need to get your yearly physical done and your medical records transferred so I can get you enrolled in school, honey. You remember Alice and Edward's dad Carlisle?" I nod. Carlisle had made me nervous the way he kept staring at me, "Well, he's offered to be your doctor and take care of all this. Emmett is going to drive you over on Monday since I have to go back on duty." I cringe internally.

"Ok." Really it's not like I can say no.

**Em's POV**

Little sister can cook! Woot! No more frozen dinners, or having to depend on friends' Moms and take out. I wonder what she can do with all that fish Dad has in the freezer in the garage? Anything has to be better than the overly salty fish fry Harry Clearwater sends over.

"Hey, Emmett." I wave to Jake who is pumping gas into his Dad's truck. The guy is like fourteen and shouldn't be driving but no one says anything because he does a great job and he's doing it because his Dad is paralyzed from the waist down. Poor Billy. Lost his legs and his wife in one car accident.

"Jacob, my man, what is up?"

"Nada. Dad says Renee sent your sister to live with you?" Jacob asks.

"Yep, Bella. She's great."

"How old is she?" Uh no, horny teenage boy, you are not coming near my baby sister.

"She'll be sixteen in September." I keep my smug grin to myself, "It's so cool how quickly she and Edward hit it off." Jake looks depressed.

"Cullen..." He says with barely concealed hate. Jake and Edward got along, or so I thought. I wonder what is up with that?

"Yeah, listen, kid, I gotta run. I'm heading over to Rosie's house." He gives a knowing grin and I cringe.

"Have fun." Yeah, like that was going to happen.

~0~

"Emmett!" She screams and throws herself into my arms. I give her a small kiss and gently push her away.

"Rose," Her face falls and I kind of feel bad until I remember Bella's sad little face, "I thought we might talk and try and fix things..." I was being honest since I really I wanted to try. I wasn't sure if we could though, fix things that is.

"Yeah, come on in." I followed her upstairs to her room and we both sit down on her queen sized bed.

"Rosie, listen, you know I love you, right?" She nods, "I don't know why you put people down. I mean you have wonderful parents, a kick-ass house and you are the hottest woman in the world. Why do you have this need to attack everyone else?"

"Em, I don't mean to. It's just things come flying out of my mouth sometimes and I can't stop them. I don't even realize they are coming until after the words have already slipped out." She pouts.

"Rosie baby, do you not care about how this affects other people?"

"Emmett, really, everybody knows how I am." She huffs and rolls her eyes.

"No, Rose, everyone doesn't. You made my sweet baby sister cry. Not once but twice. I went up for her the second time and found her in the closet in her room promising to be a good girl. She was rocking back and forth with tears in her eyes. Rose, you have no clue what that kid has been through and yet you still ran your mouth. Your apology was another fucking insult to her!" I was getting pissed.

"Damn it, Emmett, don't let her come between us!" What?

"She isn't. _You_ are. I always swore there was this hidden warmth underneath the ice queen. That's who I love, the warmth not the ice queen."

"You never had a problem with me until Bella…" She spat, "came along." Oh hell no.

"Rose, I think you need therapy, baby. Your issues are what brought us to this." Damn, I feel so sad and mad all at the same time.

"Please! Your sister is the one that needs therapy if she cried over me saying her nasty-ass clothing sucks!" She seethed, her eyes seem to be glowing red she is so pissed. This woman wasn't the Rosalie that I have known and loved most of my life. She has been so different for the past year, so much harsher and I've over looked it because I love her. I just couldn't do this anymore. I sure as hell can't have her in my house if she is going to be like this about Bella.

"Rosalie, I'm sorry, I'll always love the girl I met and fell for. But I can't do _this_. I don't even know who you are anymore." She looks at me like I have two heads.

"You are breaking up with _me_?" She laughs hysterically, "Oh, hell no, no one breaks up with Rosalie Hale!" _Umm… psycho much, baby?_

"Uh… I think I just _did_." I stand up to leave.

"Emmett, please?" She pouts and begins to take her clothes off, "I love you, Emmy bear." Oh fuck me. _No, Emmett, do not cave._

"Rose, I love you too, but we are over."

"We can't be. We are going to Edward's birthday party next week! It's the social event of the summer." She pouts and walks closer to me. I try to keep my eyes off her now naked perfect tits and the bare pussy that I love pounding in and out of.

"No can do, Rosie. If you find that girl I love, give me a call. Other than that, I'll see you around." It took everything in me, but I walked out the door.

I drove over to Jasper's house and luckily he was home. Ok, so I think he was still asleep at four in the afternoon if you take in his boxers and wild-ass hair. Of course, he was also doing the man just woke up scratch on his bare stomach.

"Dude, I just broke up with Rose." I tell him.

"Shit, man, _really_?" I nod, "Well, from what Ali says… Rose was a harsh bitch to your baby sis." It just hit me. I don't think Jazz has met Bella yet.

"Yeah, she was. Go put some clothes on. I'm taking you to meet my baby sister." He grins and runs up the stairs.

**Jasper's POV**

So, I was finally going to meet Ms. Isabella Swan. Edward talked about her for hours the night before. How sweet she is, how timid and how adorable she was. I have this feeling Bella, as Edward informed me she liked to be called, was going to be very helpful to me.

If Edward falls for Bella then maybe I can use it as leverage to explain to him that I am hopelessly in love with his sister. As it is right now, I can't tell him. He'd beat the shit out of me. Alice is his baby sister and he protects her with everything he has.

Now, if he falls for Emmett's kid sister, he could understand what it is like to be in love with your friend's younger sibling and I can use that to be able to date Alice. My sweet Alice. _Sigh_. Oh, shit I'm doing Alice's 'sigh' thing.

As we walked into the Swan house, I could smell roasted herbed chicken. Yum. Is that homemade mashed potatoes I see on the kitchen counter?

"Jasper, this is my kid sister Bella." I saw the girl who I had to agree with Edward, was adorable and very timid. Her big brown eyes took me in and I could almost feel her fear.

"Hi, Bella." I smile.

"Hi," She whispers backing away from me.

"How you liking Forks so far?" Dumb question, but she was throwing me off by acting like I was the boogey man.

"Ok," Em held back a chuckle.

"Baby Bells, this smells awesome." She gave him a small smile.

"Thank you."

"I have to say, Edward was right. You _are_ adorable." She blushes but I swear when I say old Eddie's name, a small gleam comes into her eyes and she seems to relax.

"Edward is coming over?" She looks at Em asking.

"I think he's stuck doing family shit tonight, kiddo." He pats her on the head and her little face falls. I swear it's like we took away her doll or cotton candy.

"Oh…"

"Jasper, how are you?" Charlie comes in and I swear that man is grinning like I've never seen before.

"Good, good."

Out of nowhere Bella looks at Charlie and sadly says, "Edward isn't coming."

"Aww, sweetheart. Alice and Edward have to go home sometime. You'll see them tomorrow. I promised Esme we'd have dinner at their house." And the kid comes back to life.

"Ok," She gives a small shy grin again. She then starts pulling plates out and setting the table. I guess I'm invited because she set out four places. Either that, or that is Edward's seat just in case he shows up. I'll just borrow it because that food smells good.

**Charlie's POV**

I think Bella believes Edward and Alice live here. She seemed so sad earlier when I told her he wasn't coming over. Wait she said nothing about Alice. Huh? Oh, well that's not important right now. Emmett pulled me to the side and explained that he and Rose ended their relationship earlier. He said Rose seemed to be pissed and on the war path and apparently blaming Bella for it. I'd have to keep an eye out.

The phone rang at seven thirty without checking the caller ID I spoke, "Hello?"

"Charlie, how are you?" It was Esme.

"I'm good, Esme. And yourself?"

"I'm doing great. Listen I have a question for you."

"Ok."

"Well I just bought a new laptop for myself and no one here needs my old one and I was wondering if you thought Bella might like it?" Em already had a computer and in my head I just assumed they would share, this would be so much easier.

"I'm sure she would love it, Esme. You have to let me pay you something for it though."

"Charlie, if you didn't take it, it was going to the Goodwill. There is no way I could charge you for it."

"Fine, but I'm going to do something nice for all of you soon, you've done so much for us lately." The Cullens are wonderful people.

"Charlie, just seeing that sweet smile on Bella's face is worth it. So, anyways I'll see you all tomorrow and I'll give it to her then, ok?" I agree and we say goodnight. Maybe I should look into getting that wireless internet set up in the house so the kids could both go online?

**Esme POV**

"Edward, how can we make this look older?" I ask my son as we look at the new laptop I just bought for Bella. I knew she would need something decent for school and I didn't want Charlie to waste money on it. I know he's saving to send both of his kids to college.

"Peel the stickers off?" Edward, my partner in crime in this effort, says.

"Good idea…" So we pull off one of the stickers that said Microsoft Vista on it. We did leave the one that had the computer specks on it in case Bella needed that information.

"Do you think she will like the purple lap top bag?" Alice comes in holding the bag. How did she know? Oh, well it is Alice you can't sneak anything by her.

"I think she will love it, sweetheart." I smile at my youngest. Alice squeals and Edward just rolls his eyes and laughs at her display.

"Mom, I've put word and photo-shop on here for her as well." Edward always thinking ahead.

"Good idea."

"So what do you want for your birthday, Edward?" Alice asks him slyly.

"A Ferrari?" He jokes back and she laughs.

"Sure, sure. I'll get it in brown for you." She skips off and Edward looks at me confused.

"What was up with that?"

"Heaven knows, Edward, she is Alice. Maybe brown is the new in color for cars." We both laugh at my daughter's silliness and get back to the project at hand of making sure the Swans can't tell that this is a brand new computer.

**AN2: Reviews get quicker updates ;0) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**Chapter 5**

**B POV**

Huge. Edward and Alice's house is huge. No, more than that. It is _humongous_. God, I can't go in there, I don't fit into that world. I'm not rich, I'm not pretty and I have no idea which fork and spoon go with what. I'll make a fool of myself. Maybe that's why I was invited, for entertainment value.

"Come on, Bella." Emmett laughs opening the car door for me. See, I'm already his entertainment.

"It's so big." I mumble and he laughs harder.

"Dude, it is bigger on the inside. Get this, they have an indoor pool!" My eyes bugged out of my head.

"Really?" I thought only people on TV have that.

"Really. I've swam in it a few times."

"Oh." I was a little jealous, I love swimming. I'm not swim-team good or anything like that, but I love the feel of the water rushing past my body as I swim. I love the feeling of lightness and grace that being in the water gives me. I love the freedom swimming has always blessed me with.

"The best part is no matter how cold or rainy it is outside we can still swim." He smiles at me and have to smile back.

"Bella! Emmett!" Alice comes running down the front steps and pulls us both into hugs.

"Hey, Shorty!" While Emmett had picked her up into a bear hug. I had tentatively patted her back. I'm really not used to being touched, slapped yes, hugged… _no_.

"Hello, Swans." Edward, God, he's beautiful like an angel trapped on earth. Bad Bella! Don't think thoughts like that. Besides the fact that he'd never look at you in a million years as more than a charity case tossed upon his friends, you don't want to become the slut Renee accused you of being.

"Hi," I say softly. Edward smiles and my insides tingle.

"Hi, little one. You look very pretty tonight." Of course I blush and glance down at the pale yellow and white sundress I'm wearing. Charlie and Emmett dressed up so I thought I should as well, "Mom has been cooking all day. You'd think we had the royal family coming over the way she is being such a perfectionist about everything." He smiles and my world tips a little off its axis.

"Does she need help?" I ask softly. I'm neither really comfortable with the way he makes me feel, nor am I comfortable being at this house that belongs on MTV Cribs, a show that Emmett watches way too much. I was still hoping that some of those people on there are using stage names or nicknames, if not, their Mothers must have hated them as much as Renee hates me. Really, who names their child Ludicris or Lil' Bow Wow and actually loves the child? Automatically the children are going to get picked on in school for their names alone. No loving parent wants that.

"I think she has it covered but we can go ask if you'd like." He smiles again as he tells me this. I can't help but smile back all the while begging him internally to stop smiling like that. It was making me think thoughts that I shouldn't.

"Ok." I mumble and follow him into the most beautiful place I'd ever been in. Open spaces, a pale cream color on the walls, art work that looks like it belongs in a museum instead of someone's home. Are these people royalty? Or maybe in the government? Oh, maybe they are Hollywood people?

"Do you like it?" Edward almost seems shy as he asks me that.

"It's beautiful, so light and open." I respond in my hushed tones. It really is beautiful.

"Thanks, Mom actually did all the design on the house. I was around eight when we got the place and it was pretty run down, I vaguely remember the walls having holes and there being a lot of broken windows. However in less than a year Mom had this place up and looking like it does now." I give him a small smile. I had lived in many places like he just described. However, Renee never let us fix the place up.

"Bella, you have to see my room!" Alice runs up behind me grabs my hand and drags me up the stairs.

I can't say that I'm shocked by the princess pink wonderland that I find myself now standing in. Though, honestly, I'm jealous of her canopy bed, I saw one once and always wanted it. Though, I was lucky if I had an actual bed to sleep in so I never said anything. I can also say that the pink lap top computer shocked me as well, I didn't know they came in colors. Then again I don't know a whole lot about computers period, only what they taught in school.

"What do you think?" She asks excitedly.

"It's nice." I say politely.

"It just screams Mary Alice Cullen lives here!" She giggles falling on her bed.

"Yes." I agree.

"Come on, I'll give you the tour of the rest of the house." She smiles and drags me back out her door.

~0~

Thirty minutes later I feel like I've just viewed Donald Trump's house. Their game room alone has to cost more than Charlie's house. The indoor pool was huge and heated; it took all I had not to just jump in. I think Alice caught my longing look at it because she smiled and said we'd have to go swimming later or another time.

"Bella, you look adorable, sweetheart." Esme Cullen says as she pulls me into a warm hug. She smells like freshly baked cookies and seems like everything I always dreamed a Mom should be. Nothing like Renee. If I was honest with myself I held on a little longer than was probably polite, but her warmth pulled me in.

"Thank you," I almost whisper as I pull away gently from her. I chance looking up and she has the most beautiful warm smile on her face and a tear in the corner of her eye. Did I hug her to hard? Is that why she is crying?

"You are very welcome, sweetheart." She runs her hand over my hair and smiles even wider.

"Hello, Bella." Dr. Cullen says pulling my attention to him.

"Dr. Cullen." I bite my lower lip trying to hide my fear of him. While he seems to be calm and collected he watches me like I'm a science experiment. At least that's how it feels. Also, he's a doctor and I didn't have a great trust in them, the ones I had seen in the past would bandage me up and send me on my way never asking how I got hurt. In fact the ones at the free clinics or emergency rooms seemed to just want me out of their way.

"Please, call me Carlisle, sweetheart." He gave a smile as warm as his wife's had been, but it did little to ease me.

"Ok."

"Carlisle, how are you?" Charlie came in the room with Edward and Emmett on his heels.

"Good, Charlie, how are you?" They were quickly pulled into a conversation with each other.

"Food?" Emmett asks with longing.

"Of course, Emmett, let's all go to the table." Esme laughs walking towards the kitchen. I follow behind her.

"Can I help?" I ask her gently.

"Of course, you can, Bella. If you can take these bowls out to the table and just place them in the center?" I smile and nod, it's nice to be helpful, it's familiar to be doing instead of being taken care of.

I grab the bowls of pasta salad and what looks like fiesta corn and walk towards the table. I said a silent prayer to myself before I picked them up that I wouldn't drop the food or trip over anything, including my own feet. A sigh of relief slips gently out as I sit the bowls down on the table. I notice Alice coming in carrying a basket full of homemade biscuits.

"Bella, sit next to me?" She smiles and looks eager as she asks me that.

"Ok," She grins and pulls me over to a seat and she plops down beside me. I look up and see Edward and Emmett across from me and smile a little in response to both of their smiles. Charlie sits beside me and I notice Dr. Cullen was sitting at the head of the table with Esme to his right beside Edward.

"Let us say grace." Dr. Cullen says and I notice everyone bend their heads and close their eyes silently. Huh. I follow suit so I'm not the odd one out. "Dear Father, thank you for the bounty you have blessed us with, the gift of friends and family. The good health you have graced us with and for the return of Bella. Lord, we give you thanks and our eternal love and devotion. In your son's name we pray. Amen." The others all say Amen and I follow suit in a soft voice.

"Esme, this looks wonderful." Charlie says and we all add our agreement and Carlisle picks up the bowl of corn and the food starts being passed around.

**Alice's POV**

Besides the fact that Bella is so sweet and I already love her like a sister there was another reason I had her sit beside me. I was going to put food on her plate. When Dad passes the corn to me, I put some on my plate and the same amount on Bella's before passing the bowl to Charlie who is hiding a grin.

Bella doesn't say anything as this continues. I get a food and put the same amount on each of our plates. I see Emmett and Edward trying to hold back smiles at the fact Bella will be eating. They know if we put the food on her plate she will eat it so as not to offend us. They also know if we let her fix her own plate, she won't eat anything.

She eats a little bit faster than usual, though she reverts to only answers the questions that are directly asked of her. She also keeps darting nervous glances at Dad, which worries me. Heaven knows what this girl has been through. I just want to hug her and make everything better, but I'm not stupid I know it will take more than just me and a hug to fix Bella.

I look at Dad as he is trying to hide a smile when he glances at Bella. I know he was worried about her and her lack of eating. At least we know she doesn't have an eating disorder. I can't help but wonder why she eats the way she does. She always looks euphoric while eating, like she's never had anything as good as what she is eating at that moment. Wait till she has some of Mom's Devil's Food Cake for dessert.

Maybe I can talk Bella into having a sleepover. We can do our nails and go swimming. Though, it might be too soon for her to be away from Charlie right now. We so will have one before school starts back.

Blah school, I'll have to deal with those bitches again. They'd better not go after Bella. Lauren Mallory was the worst one, she wanted Edward and he wanted nothing to do with her. So, Lauren takes it out on me. Snide remarks and nasty glares. Bitch. I heard her and Jessica Stanley calling me a spoiled princess who only knows how to shop. That is so not true. Yes, I love to shop, I won't lie. I do know how to do other things and I _do_ have hobbies that don't include my black card getting a work out. Also I'm not spoiled. Yes, my parents are loaded; no we don't get away with anything because of it. Also, while Mom and Dad do let us have nice things they also have limits and rules. Dad and Mom both believe in family, love and God before anything else. They were great warm parents that I wouldn't trade for the world.

"Alice, why are you moving your lips without any words coming out? Are you talking to yourself again?" Edward asks holding back his laughter.

"Haha, big brother." I roll my eyes and try to hide the fact that I was talking to myself.

Edward is the perfect big brother though. He's protective, always makes time for me and he would never date someone who I hated, so eat that Lauren. He's fun to hang out with and is honestly my best friend. I think someday Bella will feel the same way about Emmett.

"… are you in?" Edward's voice broke into my internal monologue.

"In what?" And I was a little startled when I heard a very soft giggle beside me. Bella was laughing at the confused look on my face and the fact that I had missed most of what Edward was saying to me.

"Don't feel bad, Alice, I day dream a lot too." She assures me with a smile.

"Thanks." I grin back at her. Slowly Bella is coming out of her shell.

"Sorry to break into a day dream, Ali." Edward's grin is huge as he looks between Bella and I. I can tell he's happy she seems to be warming up to all of us too, "I was asking if you were in for a game of Yatzee?"

"Yes!" I clap. I love rolling the dice.

**Charlie's POV**

The kids were in bed and I couldn't keep the grin off my face. My sweet Bella actually was giggling and playing board games with the others. She was still quiet and she still held back, but there was hope. Hope that one day my little girl will be happy and lively. One day the obvious scars Renee has left on my precious child can be healed.

I'm worried about the test that Carlisle is planning for Bella, ok, I'm worried about the results of the test. What if there is something wrong with my child? If it wasn't for the fact Renee would probably use the same shit against me that she did to keep me from Bella to begin with I would try and press charges for child abuse against her. I'm sure Carlisle testifying that she was malnourished and maybe a therapist could also testify at the mental anguish the bitch put my baby girl through would put the harpy behind bars. God, I want to know everything, but I'm terrified to know at the same time. I hate the thought of something hurting any of my children. The fact that my daughter has clearly been the victim of some kind of abuse doesn't sit well with me. In fact, it takes all I have not to hunt Renee down and take my shot gun to her.

The sound of sobbing and the sudden scream of, "No!" had me running to Bella's room. The sight that greeted me broke my heart again. My daughter was crying and thrashing around in her bed, she was clearly perspiring.

"Shh, baby, it's ok." I say in a calm voice walking over to her bed. I cautiously sit on the edge and touch her arm. She violently jerks away and her big brown eyes stare at me. Then she is wrapped around me, her frail little arms wrapped around my neck.

"I'll be good. Please don't make me go back." She begs, tears continuing to flow.

"Never, baby girl, I'll never send you back. You're here, you're safe and we love you." I hug her tight as she cries.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

"For what, honey?" I ask confused.

"For causing problems and costing money, I don't mean to be a bother." She says still whispering.

"You are not causing problems, baby girl. As for money, your brother cost me ten times the amount daily just in food." She gives me a weird look, "Seriously, you haven't cost me anything. You are my daughter, Bella. It's my job to provide for you." She pulls back and looks at me seriously.

"Are you really my Father?"

"Yes, Isabella." I assure her.

"Ok." She seems like she wants to ask more but is nervous, "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Of course." She gives me a timid smile and I tuck her back into bed giving her a small kiss on the forehead, "Sleep, sweet princess." I whisper as I shut her bedroom door.

I know tonight isn't going to fix everything but I can't help but feel this was a necessary step in building a relationship with Bella. She clearly was still unsure of who I am. And she clearly still lacked trust in me and perhaps everyone else in her life. However, tonight I got to hug my daughter and tell her that I love her. Tonight for the first time _ever,_ I got the privilege of tucking my baby girl in bed and kissing her goodnight. All in all it was a good night, even with her nightmare. I can only hope tomorrow continues us on this path of healing.

**Carlisle's POV**

Slutty nurse number one aka Whitney Mallory was getting on my nerves today. She has tried to grab my behind more than once and has also offered to help me relieve stress in the doctors' lounge. Not going to happen, you over processed slutty blond woman.

Two o'clock time for my appointment with Bella. I walk towards my office where I know Emmett will be waiting with his sister. What I didn't expect was Charlie was there too.

"Hello, Swan family." I greet with a smile.

"Hola, Dr. C." Emmett jokes back.

"Carlisle," Charlie greets me with a handshake.

"Hi." Bella whispers never once looking at me. I have noticed before that she seems nervous around me and I wondered if perhaps it was due to my observing her so intensely the first time we met. Though, I had made it a goal to gain this child's trust. She was a sweet girl that was very important to all of us, I would hate to have her not trust me or even dislike me.

"Well, hello, Ms. Bella, are you ready to get your physical out of the way?"

"Ok." She whispers looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but here.

"Ok, let's go to exam room 2." I lead her to the room, "Why don't you get into the gown and then I'll be back with the nurse." She looks horrified but takes the gown anyways with shaking hands.

I walk out to give her privacy and go back to tell Charlie and Emmett that it will probably be about fifteen minutes to a half hour before I'm done. Emmett of course sees this as a time better spent in the cafeteria. I grab nurse Walker, one of the sweetest on staff; and go back to Bella. Knocking on the door gently.

"Bella, are you ready?"

"Ok." She says softly again.

First off I'm horrified by how thin she is. Her back looks like that of an emaciated person. "How about we weigh you, ok, honey?" She nods and I put her on the scale.

At five three and a quarter height she should be at least one hundred and ten pounds to be in the healthy range. Bella weighs all of ninety one pounds. Her blood pressure is a little low, but not drastically; this could just be a result of the low body weight. Heart rate is fine, good. Temp is normal.

"Ok, Bella, I'm going to take some blood from you now." Nurse Walker gets the needle set up and I watch as Bella goes white in the face, "Sweetheart, if you don't like having blood taken you might want to close your eyes till this is over. I have found that patients handle it better if they don't watch." She nods and closes her eyes. I take a few vials and get them sent down to get the standard test done. I'm also going to get a urine sample to do a few others.

"Dr. Cullen?" Nurse Walker calls me over to her. She leans in and whispers, "Look at her left thigh." I stand up and walk back over trying to be nonchalant about it. There about two inches long is a fine white scar. To my trained eyes I can tell this is a knife wound scar.

"Bella, how did this happen?" I ask gently. She looks up sad eyes and shakes her head no, "Please, Bella, I need to know for you medical records." Yep I lied.

"I was bad, I had to be punished." She whispers.

"Did you do this?" I need to know if she is a cutter. And my answer came quick when her head shoots up and her eyes become so big I'm scared they are going to pop out of her head.

"No!" She screams in the loudest voice I've heard her use to date.

"Ok, did Renee?" Her whole body shakes when I say her Mother's name.

"Yes." She whispers, "Can I go now?" She asks in a very polite voice. So taking pity on her, I sent her to the small bathroom to get the sample and let her know that afterwards she can get dressed to go home. I then went out to meet with Charlie.

"Well?" He asks gently.

"She's a good bit under weight, the blood work isn't back yet but I can pretty much guarantee that she needs supplements." I shook my head trying to clear it. Charlie is a minor's legal guardian and so legally I can inform him of Bella's scar, "Charlie, I have to tell you that at least once Renee cut Bella with something, I'm assuming a sharp knife by the looks of the scar on her left thigh." His eyes bug.

"What?" He demands his voice cold and deadly.

"Yes, I did get out of her that it wasn't self-inflicted and that in fact Renee did it as a punishment, for what I don't know. Charlie, I wouldn't make a big deal out of it, it will damage the trust I'm trying to build with her. And possibly even push her back into her shell."

"Ok, for now I'll let it go." He nods but still looks pissed off.

"Good. Now when the results come in later, I'll put together any prescriptions that are needed and drop them off at the house." He smiles.

"Thanks, Carlisle."

"That's what friends are for, Charlie." I smile back.

"Fishing Saturday morning?"

"I'm in. Edward is having his birthday party that day so any excuse to be away from a house full of teenagers is good for me." We both laugh.

"I'm not sure Bella should go, I'm worried it's too much too soon."

"True, but there is also the concern she would start feeling left out if not invited, or she might even worry that the boys are ashamed of her if she isn't going." I counter. I know Edward is really looking forward to Bella being there.

"It's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations, eh?"

"Charlie, it's one of those _'I'm the father of a teenage girl_' situations." Laughing together we walked back down to where Emmett and Bella sat side by side outside my office. Emmett was telling Bella about the "kick-ass" cherry pie he had in the cafeteria.

"Ready to go home, kids?" Charlie smiles at his children.

"Yeah!" Emmett stands up pulling Bella with him. It's kind of amusing that Charlie's kids are as far apart in height as my own.

"Yes, please." Bella says, slightly hiding behind her brother's large frame shooting me looks like she is scared that I will try and examine her again.

"Have a great day, Swan family, I need to get on to my next patient of the day." Who will be at the hospital in about an hour, I laugh internally.

"Bye, Dr. C." Emmett waves as they leave. Now I have a few minutes to call Esme before the next patient. Hmm… I wonder if she is up for some sexy talk?

"Dr. Cullen?" Nurse Walker calls to get my attention.

"Yes?"

"We just received a fax of medical records for Isabella Swan from the Massachusetts Free Clinic outside Boston. I've put them on your desk you might want to take a look at them." She says gravely.

"Thank you, Nurse Walker." I walk swiftly to my office and see the paper work on my desk. As I read the file, I have to battle back my anger. God! Poor sweet Bella. I know I need to tell Charlie, but this wasn't a call I wanted to make. And I wasn't sure I could say it in person either. Bile rose up in my throat as I fought back the nausea. Poor sweet Bella.

**AN2: Reviews make me smile :0), and obviously get earlier updates…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**Chapter 6**

**Charlie's POV**

After Carlisle's call, I decided that it would be best to talk to him alone. I pulled Emmett to the side and he agreed to take Bella out for ice cream. He wanted to take her to the bowling alley, but I was a little worried about how crowded it was there without me to protect her; also if there was something wrong with her and she shouldn't be exerting herself, then bowling would be a bad idea. I placated him with the knowledge that he could take her there another day.

"Charlie," Carlisle greats as I open the door after his first knock.

"Carlisle, how was work?" _I'm trying to be patient and polite man, just tell me what is wrong with my little girl._

"Work was fine. I avoided the two banes of my existence Nurse Stanley and Nurse Mallory." We shared our usual joke; Carlisle is a devoted family man who is madly in love with his wife. All, but two of the women on staff at the hospital, respect that. In fact, he has a wonderful working relationship with everyone except Stanley and Mallory, or as he calls them slutty nurse one and slutty nurse two.

"Still offering stress relief?" I joke.

"God, I worry about what kind of morals and values they are instilling in their daughters with the way they act." He shook his head in disgust, "Though we both know I'm here for more important matters and I think you should take a seat." I give him a grim smile and we walk into the kitchen. I pull us both a 'Vitamin R' from the fridge and we sit facing each other across the kitchen table.

"Alright, hit me with it." I steel myself for the worst. He pulls out a bag and hands it to me.

"First here are some supplements I want you to give her. She's slightly anemic and some of her other tests are below average; showing signs of long term malnutrition. Regular meals and these supplements should help fix this." He runs a hand through his hair, "Charlie, I called a friend in Boston after receiving her file to begin investigating that poor excuse of a clinic Renee was taking her to. Bella had several 'incidents' that should have been reported as _suspected abuse_."

"Carlisle?" That was all I could get out.

"It seems there was more than just that _one_ cut that I saw. According to her medical report, there was a gash on her stomach that required seven stitches. She'd had broken fingers, a broken arm, bruising on her arms that looked like hand prints. All of this was in her file; none of it was reported to Child Protective Services." He looks me dead in the eye and continues, "She had surgery at the age of nine to repair her left ear drum; it looked like blunt force trauma caused the damage. Renee claimed Bella fell. She was lucky, Charlie. She could have been deaf in her left ear because of this. The doctor's report says that she regained ninety eight percent of the hearing back in the ear."

"What the hell?"

"When she was twelve she spent a week in the hospital due to complications of chicken pox. While it should have had run the normal course with her; it seemed that Renee kept sending her back to school and Bella was sent back home every day for a week. The doctor's notes said that Bella got a secondary infection due to her low immunity during that time. He also noted that the child was terrified that she would be in trouble for not being home to clean like she was supposed to."

"That bitch!"

"The medical records were compiled from a couple of different places at that clinic in Boston. They sent us all the records that they had sent to them when she first became a patient." Carlisle looks at me with sad eyes, "The first report of a cut on her body, the one that wasn't taken care of and got infected and that was why she went to the doctor's office, Bella was three and a half."

"My poor baby." I will admit that I had a tear run down my face. If I could have only had gotten to her sooner. If I had stood up to Renee's blackmail, I maybe could have saved my baby. God, I want to hit something or someone right now so bad. Carlisle looks like he feels the same way.

"Charlie that clinic should have reported signs of abuse to CPS; I need to report them for investigation. Heaven knows how many other children could be being overlooked right now." I nod gravely.

"I just hope to God this doesn't come back and bring that bitch back into our lives. The last thing Bella needs is to see her again."

**Emmett's POV**

Bella's little face was so cute when I asked her if she wanted to go get ice cream with me. First it showed disbelief, then her eyes just glowed. She whispered, "Ok." and moved faster than I'd ever seen her go to get to my jeep. It was to fucking cute.

We're now standing in line at Mr. Iceman's Ice Cream Shack waiting our turn in line. Angela Webber and Kate Stuart were in front of us with their younger siblings. I waved 'hey' getting their attention. They looked at Bella then looked back at me and looking confused. I just gave a big old shit-eating grin. I knew they thought I was stepping out on Rosalie and since they had known her forever they were probably pissed at me. I needed to nip this rumor in the bud.

"Hey, baby sis, what flavor do you want?" I said in my semi-loud voice. Loud enough that everyone around us looked and Angela got a huge grin on her face. Kate just looks like she is contemplating something.

"Can I have mint?" She asks sweetly.

"Of course, Bella." She gives me a sweet smile and goes back to looking around at everyone trying to absorb her new surroundings.

"Hey, Emmett." Angela says in greeting and Bella moves a little so she is partially behind me.

"Hey, Ang, how are you?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Great, Angela Webber, this is my younger sister Isabella; "Bella" Swan. Bella, this is Angela, she goes to our school she is actually in your grade." Bella gives her a shy smile.

"Hi, Bella." Angela is really a nice person.

"Hi." Bella says in her timid little voice.

"So, you're going to Forks High in the fall?"

"Yes?" Bella says it like it's a question.

"Yep, she is." I confirm.

"Ang, what do you want?" Kate asks her cousin.

"Mint chip." Bella smiles a little bit more.

"That's my favorite." Wow my sister just said that. I made a mental note to tell Charlie and also to get him to buy some mint chip ice cream. We both knew at this point she wouldn't get it for herself.

"Mine too." Angela says with a smile.

"Hey, Em, where is Jazz and Edward?" Kate asks.

"No clue." I throw back at her.

"Oh." She looks at Bella, "Hey." And gives her a sort of smile.

"Hi." Bella looks scared again.

"I'm Kate Stuart, I'm in Em and Rose's grade at school." This is Kate trying to be polite. I keep my laugh to myself. I swear she is just worried that Bella might be Edward's type and get in her way. Seducing Edward was Kate's goal. I didn't see her accomplishing it, Edward worried too much about STDs to mess with Kate.

After three or four more minutes in line, we finally get our ice cream and I pull Bella over to the picnic tables. I figure we can play at getting to know each other a little bit.

"So, Bella, who is your favorite writer?" Bella stops licking her ice cream and I swear she almost glares at me she is so pissed that I'm taking her away from the Heaven of licking that cone.

"Jane Austen." She says simply and goes back to licking. I give a laugh and go back to my peanut butter cup ice cream. Yum. After she is half way done I decide to start again.

"Favorite movie?" This time she doesn't glare but only gives a mini huff of annoyance.

"Sleeping Beauty." I'm having fun annoying Bella because generally she is so busy trying to please everyone that she doesn't get annoyed with us so I keep going.

"Favorite color?"

"Green." She says and gets a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Favorite TV show?"

"Umm… Green Acres?" Really? Shit, I love that show too.

"Good show!" I agree, "That pig Arnold was the shiznit." She giggled sweetly and I continued in that vein of asking normal 'getting-to-know-you-questions', to find out more about my baby sister. It was surprising how much we had in common. When she finished her ice cream she looked at me very seriously.

"Emmett, if you're my big brother why didn't you live with Renee and I?" She asks softly.

"Bella, I am your big brother, we have the same Dad. Renee isn't my Mom though. My Mom's name was Hope. She passed away when I was six months old. A drunk driver hit her car. We were living in Seattle at the time. After that, Dad moved back here to Forks with me." I explain calmly.

"I'm sorry." She looks at me tears glistening in her big brown eyes and then she shocks the shit out of me by coming around the picnic table and pulling me into a warm hug. It was nice and as gentle as I could, I hug her back. I was hugging my sister for the first time, really hugging her and I just wanted to do a happy dance because this was proof to me that she was opening up; and that things were in fact going to be alright.

"Bella, it was a long time ago and as much as I wish every day that I got a chance to meet her, I got lucky. Charlie is a great Dad and soon you will find that out for yourself. I just want you to know that." I sigh, "I might not have had a Mom all these years, but I had Dad and he was a kick-ass parent that showed me how much he loved me in his way. He has never let me down and I honestly don't think he ever will." She gives a slight nod.

I realize she is probably wondering why Charlie wasn't there for her, but I can't answer that question since it's his place to tell her the whole story since I only know about half of it. I was too young at the time and still the adults felt like I'm not of an age to handle the whole story even now.

I notice that it is getting dark out, so I load her back into the jeep and head back to the old homestead. I'm relieved that Carlisle's car isn't at the house, so I've obviously done my job and kept Bella occupied while they had their little talk. And hopefully Dad will fill me in on what the doc had to say.

"Have fun, kids?" He smiles, but I can tell something is wrong.

"Yes." Bella smiles back at him and I swear Dad's face explodes with happiness. Maybe our talk did her some good.

"It was a blast, old man. Ice cream yummy goodness." I give him two thumbs up and plop down on the sofa. I pat the seat beside me and Bella takes the hint and joins us. We spend the next half an hour trying to explain to Bella the ins and outs of the baseball game we are watching with her. It seems all we have done is about put her to sleep.

"Bella, sweetheart, if you are tired you can go to bed." Dad tells her. She grins and lightly pats me on my hand. She stands up bites her bottom lip and looks at Dad intently, then blushes and stares at the floor, "Oh, Bella, Dr. Cullen dropped these off, you need to take one in the morning and one at night, ok?" She nods and blushes. I decide to take the focus off her medical issues while she is in the room.

"Dad, I'm going up to PA with Jazz tomorrow to get Eddie's birthday gift, can I take Bella with me if she wants to go?" She nods her head and looks at Dad expectantly.

"Of course, you can go." He smiles again at her enthusiasm. Then pulls out his wallet, "Ok, Bella, since you aren't aware of our allowance rules I'm going to fill you in." She looks a little nervous, "Once a month is how I give allowance, it's a payment for all the chores you've done over the month."

"Chores?" She looks at me then Dad.

"Bella, you've already been doing far more than I would ask of you. For example, Emmett's chores mean he mows the lawn weekly, unless it needs it more, keeps up the flower beds that Esme insisted that we have and makes sure his room isn't so bad that they condemn the house. For you, I would say just the light housework like vacuuming the living room. And cooking _if_ you'd like to. Also keeping your room clean is your responsibility. We take turns cleaning the bathroom, since it's only fair."

"Ok." She looks nervous and begins looking around the room.

"Now, at report card time I also reward for good grades." He winks at me, this started when I almost failed math three years ago.

"He does pay well for the grades, Bella." I say. He opens his wallet and pulls out some bills.

"Now, it's fifty a month, unless you're in trouble or grounded for doing something foolish like your brother who thought it would be fun to jump off roofs pretending to be Superman. Grades are paid like this, A grades get ten each, Bs get five. If you make honor roll I'll throw in an extra twenty. You work hard for good grades and should be rewarded for them." Personally I get one extra ten for gym every semester and a ten for Spanish. I can habla español with the best of them, "Also know if you fail a class your allowance gets cut to twenty a month until the grades go back up."

"Ok?" She says but it sounds more like a question then a statement. I figure the kid has never been rewarded in her life.

"Now, I've already given Emmett his money for the month, so, here is yours. I figure you might need it if you're going shopping tomorrow. Also, Em, take the Sam's card and the credit card. I need you guys to stop off and pick up some toilet paper and whatever food you think we need in bulk. I know you love the nachos and cheese." I laugh, he loves that shit as much as I do.

"Can do, Pops." I notice Bella is just looking at her money like she doesn't know what to do with it. It looks like he has blown her mind or something. I honestly don't think the girl has held money that is just hers before. As for Dad's allowances and grade money I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dad might not be the richest guy in town *cough* Carlisle *cough*, but we aren't headed for the breadline.

"Thank you." She suddenly says very sincerely and reaches down and gives Dad a timid hug. Aww, shit I think Dad might cry. Dude, don't do that, then I'll cry and that's just not cool, "Goodnight." She says with a tiny wave and runs up the stairs.

"So, you are driving tomorrow, right?" Dad clears his throat and tries to act manly again after almost crying.

"Yep, Jazz's car is sweet for cruising but no room for shopping."

"Good. Because, seriously, Jasper has _way_ too many speeding tickets for him to be driving my children around." Dad laughs. It's true Jazz gets caught speeding a lot. However, Edward drives faster, somehow he hasn't been caught, "Oh… and grab Edward a gift card from that music store he likes so much from me for his birthday."

"Same amount as last year?" Dad was so predictable, since Edward was eleven and found the store and told Dad how much he loved it, Dad had been getting him a gift card for it. For Alice he just gives her cash in a card. Dad and gift shopping don't go hand in hand.

"Yep."

And then we sat silently watching the game. It was almost an awkward silence, the only thing saving it from that was the sound of the TV. He knew I wanted to ask about what Carlisle had to say. I knew he was worried that telling me might make things worse. What if I slipped and told Bella? Yeah, he was always worried about my slipping since I don't always watch what I say. I think it, I say it. It's a good thing I mainly think happy thoughts.

"Ok, so what did Daddy C have to say?" I gave up waiting. I hate awkward silences. He then fills me in on everything, including the old medical records and the shitty clinics that didn't report signs of abuse. I was fucking mad. I could tell Dad was too, however I really wanted to hit something at this moment and I knew that wasn't cool. "I'm going for a run." I simply say.

Dad told me that I inherited my fierce Irish temper from my Mom. While I'm generally as laid back about things as Dad is, there are times that things push me over the edge. Dad calls it getting my Irish up. That's when I either run, or hit the gym. And since the gym was closed right now a run it is. I tied up my Nikes and started running towards town. Everything will be closing up in this one horse town and it will be a peaceful jog down the deserted sidewalks.

I'm about three blocks past the grocery store when I see a figure walking in front of me. I jog lightly past the person throwing a harmless "hey" over my shoulder so they don't think I'm a mugger.

"Hey, Swan." I hear familiar laughter and turn to see Victoria.

"Hey, Vicky, what's up?"

"Nada, just walking home from work. My shitty car decided to break down again."

"Hey, I'll walk you." I smile and slow to walk with her. No way I was letting her walk alone after dark. It might be a small town but we still have crime and people are still sick puppies no matter where you live.

"Cool, thanks." She smiles back. We start talking about her car. It's a beat up old cavalier that was from the late eighties.

"Hey, tomorrow I have to run up to PA for a few hours with Jazz and Bella, but we're not going till afternoon. Getting Jasper awake before noon in the summers is impossible. I can run by and take a look for you?" I offer.

"Do you know anything about cars?" She asks, looking slightly skeptical.

"Yep. Helped rebuild my jeep in fact. My Dad's friend Billy's son Jake helped me out."

"Jake Black? Isn't he like twelve or something?" She jokes.

"Nah, Jake's around Bella's age." I scowl.

"Ahh, what is that look for?" She laughs.

"When I told Jake that Bella was coming to town, he started throwing hints like… he wanted to maybe date my baby sister. Not that he has a chance; she has a crush on Edward." I smile.

"Seriously? You have no problem with Edward who is older than her, but you do with Jake?" She looks at me like I'm insane.

"Nah, it's not that. I don't want her dating anyone yet; she's just a kid still. However, I know Eddie, he won't ask her out. _Friend code_. It's the same reason Jazz won't ask out Alice. So, as long as Bella is crushing on Eddie, I don't have to worry." I smile at my logic and she smacks my arm playfully.

"You, Emmett Swan, are a chauvinist. When you were twelve you had your tongue rammed down Rose's throat, your sister is what fifteen or sixteen? And you don't even think she should be allowed to date?"

"She's my sister." I whine.

"So?" She counters.

"So, I just got her. I don't want her running off with some guy to play tonsil hockey." I admit.

"Well, I think that is up to _her_." Vicky smiles, "Though honestly, I think Edward would be the better choice for her. He's so responsible and caring. Jake's a good kid, but we all know he likes to party and is all about the extreme sports." I agree with her.

"True and plus Eddie is a prude, umm… I mean a _gentleman_. I wouldn't have to worry much." I smile. Ok, I'm trying here.

"Ok, I have to agree that Edward is a prude. I think Tanya almost had to handcuff him down to keep him from running away when they dated." I laugh because Tanya did in fact handcuff Ed and that's why they broke up, she scared the shit out of him.

"Hey, Vicky, are you going to Edward's party?"

"I was thinking about going."

"Ok, this is going to sound weird but do you want to ride with Bella and I there? Hang out as friends? This is kind of her debut into Forks High, so I want to stay close to her but I'd still think it'd be cool to go together." She laughs and nods.

"I'd be honored, Em. And I'll help you with Bella. She seems so nice." Vicky seems nice too and I wonder why I never noticed that before and how extremely down-to-earth and nice she is.

"Cool." We reached her door step and I kiss her cheek softly in a friendly kiss, "What time is good in the morning?"

"Anytime after nine thirty." She smiles.

"Ok, see you then."

"See you." She says softly and waves going into her house.

~0~

The next morning Bella and I pulled up at Vicky's house around ten to ten. Vicky opens the door after I give a quick knock.

"Hey, Em. Hey, Bella, come on in." We follow her into the house, which is a normal modest home. Small but you could feel the familial warmth to it. I was a little shocked that after we sat down, a huge black lab came rushing out tongue dangling out of its mouth. The dog took one look at Bella and rushes over to her. Bella looks longingly at the dog.

"Can I pet him?" She asks softly of Vicky, her eyes almost pleading.

"Of course! Bubba, meet Bella." Vicky laughs as the dog reaches its paw towards Bella to shake, "It's his favorite trick, greeting people." Bella giggles and shakes the dogs paw. And I can tell it is love for both of them at first sight. My shy and reserved little sister is cuddling and cooing with a dog almost as large as she is.

"Looks like you made a friend, Bella." I joke. She gives me the cutest goofy grin.

"I always wanted a pet." She says simply. Vicky grins at me and winks.

"Bella, if you want to take Bubba to the back yard and play with his toys, he has a Frisbee and a baseball that if you toss them for him he'll fetch. It's fenced in completely, so it's ok for him to be loose." Bella nods enthusiastically.

"Yes, please." Vicky shows her outside and I can't stop smiling. Somehow the dog made her act like a normal carefree teenager. I stand up when Vicky comes back in.

"I can't wait to tell my Dad his dog wants to leave him for a younger woman." She jokes I laugh and follow her to the door.

"Well, it's just great to see Bella enjoying something."

"She seems like a great kid." Vicky says.

"She _is_ a great one. Just really shy and let's just say she had a crap-_tastic_ bitch of a Mom." I don't want to get into details but I toss that out so Vicky has an idea of why Bella is shy.

"Ahh, one of those _'I should have never had kids in the first place because I'm too self involved to worry about raising them' _types?"

"Basically." I know that's not the whole story, but honestly it's private what really went on with Bella. Maybe one day I might tell Vicky more. She seems like a great girl and she is keeping my mind from wallowing around in thoughts of Rosalie.

It was hard to walk away from her, but she wasn't acting like the girl I fell in love with anymore. And while some might think I put a stranger before my long-time girlfriend, well, they need to take a step back and realize that I put my own flesh and blood, who is a child who had known little love and affection, before anything. The girl whom I have loved since I've known about her is now in front of the shell of what was my long-time girlfriend. The Rosie that I loved wouldn't have been so cold to Bella. Blunt yes, cold no.

"So, let's take a look at the car." I pull myself out of my internal monologue about Rose and focus on here and now. My kid sister is smiling and I can hear her laughing and playing with the dog from here. And I'm making a great new friend out of an old acquaintance.

~0~

"And the dog kept bringing it back over and over again." Bella laughs as she recounts her morning activities to Jasper on our way to Port Angeles.

"Sounds like you had a blast, Bella." He smiles.

"It was so much fun." She says in one of the happiest voices I've ever heard her use. Playing with the dog has brought a flush to her skin; she is almost glowing with her pleasure. It's so sweet. Now she is just staring out the window smiling, I think day dreaming about playing with Bubba again. Jazz smiles at me and I have to smile back we are both happy that she is happy right now.

"Hey, what are you getting Eddie for his birthday?" I ask Jazz.

"I was thinking about a couple of girlie rags and some lotion." Jasper jokes and I smack him upside the head and look back to remind him that Bella is present and he gives me the guy sign for 'opps sorry, dude, my bad' and I respond with the guy sign for 'it's cool'.

"Hey, I was thinking of tickets for the Port Angeles Dynamos next game." Jazz agrees.

"Let's go in together and get tickets for everyone, that way we can do it as a family outing, you know Edward would like that."

"Sounds cool with me."

"Emmett?" A soft voice calls from the back seat.

"Yeah, Bella?" I look in the review mirror and her face looks like she was deep in thought.

"Can we stop by a book store?"

"Sure, kiddo."

"Thanks."

We head into the box office to get the tickets. Thankfully, minor league baseball games are cheaper than major league games so we got the tickets without breaking the budget. Unlike the Cullens Jazz and I didn't have pretty black unlimited credit cards. We then took Bella to Barnes and Nobles. We stood guard over her as she searched through the Classic book section. She made her purchase and spent a good chunk of her June allowance on it. Then we went to Sam's club.

"Holy crow." Bella exclaims as we walk into the warehouse. It's cute the way she is looking at the bulk sized packages of food and she looked shocked to see so many batteries in one package.

"It's bulk packages. For the most part it's cheaper to buy in bulk. Plus, with Jazz, Eddie and I around, we find we have to shop less if we get the big size. Growing teenage boys and all." I inform her.

"What do we get here?" She asks in her normal gentle soft voice.

"Whatever we need, you see something you think we need for the house, or you want to eat toss it in the buggy, kiddo."

"Ok."

Bella is excited as she picks up big pack of apple sauces and fruit cups. Canned vegetables and pasta quickly are tossed in. She picked up a bag of flour and sugar so big I wasn't sure we'd ever use that much. We hit the fresh fruits and veggies; she grabbed a big pile of bananas and some other goodies. The meats made her day though. She inspected prices and packages. The funniest part of the shopping experience was when Bella saw the huge packs of toilet paper. I put it in the cart and her jaw dropped. I guess she'd never seen that much TP before.

We left the store with an assload of food, yet with Bella's killer shopping skills we'd only spent a little over two hundred bucks. I knew Dad was going to have to plug in the storage freezer for all this meat, but those country style ribs looked too good to leave behind. To be honest the way she shopped was like she was scared if she didn't get enough now that the food wouldn't be there when she came back.

**Alice's POV**

"Charlie?" I call coming in the Swan's front door. His cruiser was in the driveway.

"Hey, Alice, how are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm good. I'm spending the night if that's ok. I thought I'd help set up Bella's computer on the internet and do girlie stuff with her. The boys are going out for a pre-birthday party thing." And they told me I couldn't go.

"That's fine, Alice. I'm sure Bella will like that since I'm on duty till midnight. I'll be on my way out soon." I smile.

"Where is Bella?"

"She should be home soon. She went to Port Angeles with Jasper and Emmett. They had to go to Sam's and also pick up Edward's birthday presents." He looks at me funny, "Alice, how did you get over here?"_ Oh hehe_.

"Dad dropped me off on his way to the hospital. Mrs. Westin is having contractions. I told him I was having a sleep over." Yep I presumed but as if Charlie would say no.

"Alice," He chuckles, "You're too much, honey." He left telling me to make myself at home. I plop on the sofa and flip to the history channel. There is a documentary about the Civil War on and I'm absorbing info so when Jasper realizes that I'm it for him, I can woo him with my knowledge.

"Shorty!" Em calls in greeting as they come through the door.

"Hey, guys." Wow they bought a lot of stuff.

"Alice, could you go plug in the fridge in the garage for me? It needs to get cold so we can load it up." Em asks.

"No problem_-o_." I hop to it, going out the door that leads into the garage which was actually set up as a guys' playground with fishing equipment, all sorts of tools and sports gear. I don't think a car has been parked in here in the whole time I've known the Swans. I quickly plug in the storage freezer that Em calls a fridge, silly boy.

"Hey, Ali." Jasper '_sighs'_ says as he walks by with one of those jumbo packs of toilet paper that Charlie loves to get.

"Hey, Jazz."

"Hi," Bella says softly coming in behind Jasper carrying one of those big cloth earth friendly reusable shopping totes.

"Hi, Bella. Need any help?" She looks a little shocked then shakes her head.

"No, it's ok." Emmett says as he comes in behind her with more totes full of food.

"So, we are having a sleepover and I'm going to get you on that computer that according to Emmett sits gathering dust." I joke.

"Ok." She gives a timid smile. When we gave her the laptop she thanked us, tried to turn it down and then thanked us again. Emmett informed me that she had put it on her desk, looked at it a lot but never really touched it. I think she is a) scared to touch it or b) not sure how to work it. I aim to fix this tonight.

"Charlie left already?" Em asks.

"Yeah, he did. Oh and he wanted me to remind you not to get arrested, stay off of school buildings and that if Edward gets hurt you have to face the wrath of Esme."

"Why would Edward get hurt?" Bella asks confused.

"Oh, Jasper and Emmett are taking Edward out for his pre-birthday guy bonding night tonight. Let's just say they can get a little wild." I tell her and she looks at her brother.

"Don't hurt Edward." She huffs cutely and stares at him. I think Emmett is a little scared.

"I won't, I promise, Bella." She smiles sweetly like her little show of strength never happened.

"Ok." And back to her timid voice. Apparently the one way to piss off Bella is to threaten Edward, because she said nothing about staying out of trouble. I laugh to myself. "Umm… I'm going to clean up and start dinner." She says softly and backs out of the room. I think she just realized what she did and was going to hide.

"Wow." Jasper laughs lightly.

"I know! Clearly if you hurt Edward, you face the wrath of Esme _and_ Bella." I joke.

"I've never seen her huffy before." Jasper says.

"Well, don't interrupt her while she's eating an ice cream cone, you'll see it again." Em laughs and tells us about his trip with Bella to get ice cream. Aww.

Bella comes back in and starts putting things away. Emmett grabs some of the larger packages of meat and puts them in the 'fridge' for her and explains to her that later he'll help her transfer them out to the other for storage. Let's just say the fridge is packed at the moment.

"Are tacos ok?" Bella asks us. We all nod and agree.

"Can I help?" I've never cooked that much but I'm willing to try.

"It's ok I've got it." Bella tells me softly. So, I sit at the table and talk to her as she grills the meat up and starts chopping and dicing toppings.

She tells me about her morning at Victoria's and all about Bubba the dog. Then she says something about men must need a lot of toilet paper. Jazz and Em join us and we all fix our tacos up. Emmett, I notice, is fixing two plates while Bella is making us drinks. She has some punch recipe she thought we might like. He sits one of the plates in Bella's spot with two _almost_ filled-to-burst tacos on it. He's picked up on Mom's trick. Bella also pulls this casserole dish out of the oven that I hadn't even noticed she had put in. Hmm… must have been when I was in the little girl's room. She plops it in the middle of the table and puts some warmed corn chips beside it.

"Bella, what is this?" Em asks drool running down his chin at the awesome smell.

"Cheese taco dip." She says. I grab a chip and dip it. And, oh my God, I'm planning on going lesbian and marrying Bella if she cooks this for me at least twice a week.

"God, Bella this is awesome!" I squeal. Jazz and Em follow my lead and we are all moaning and groaning. Then we get to the tacos and they are better than Mom's, which is saying something. Holy shit. Bella is blushing at all this praise.

"Guys, did you forget about me?" Edward calls coming in the house without knocking.

"In here!" Emmett bellows around his taco.

"Try the dip." Jazz grumbles around his. Edward does and he starts moaning too.

"Wow, where did you get this?"

"Bella made it." I smile as I tell him.

"Bella, this is one of the best things I've _ever_ tasted." He tells her. We all agree. She blushes some more.

"Tacos?" Bella offers pointing towards where the taco line is still set up and the still warmed meat. Edward smiles and fixes a plate plopping down between Bella and myself.

"Ok, Bella this is awesome too." Edward says.

"Dad is going to be sad he missed this." Emmett is leaning back rubbing his stomach after downing six tacos.

"I know, old man lost out." Jazz laughs. He downed six as well. Good thing Bella made enough for an army. She looks around goes to the cabinets pulls out one of those divided Tupperware things. She fixes three tacos up on one side and scoops a little bit of the left over dip on the other and puts some of the chips in a baggie.

"Umm… when you go out could you…"She stops and looks at her feet biting her lip.

"You want us to take that to Charlie?" Edward asks reading her mind.

"Please." She smiles at him.

"No problem, Bella." He smiles back.

"Guys, we gotta go or we're going to be majorly late." Jazz jumps up, thanks Bella again and drags Emmett away from the dip.

"See you tomorrow, ladies. And Bella, thanks for the food." Edward says and Bella blushes again. She has it bad, poor kid.

~0~

"Ok, I have the Wi-Fi hooked up now so we are online, Bella!" I cheer and she just giggles at me.

"Thank you." She says kindly looking up from her battered copy of Emma.

"Ok, get your cute butt over here, girlie, I'm going to show you the world wide web." She places a piece of paper in the book to hold her page and walks over to where I'm seated at her desk, "Hold on, be right back." I tell her and push her into the chair I just vacated.

I ran to Em's room and grab his desk chair and bring it back in with me. I have a place to sit too. My mind lingers for a minute telling me to remember to tell Emmett he needs to clean his mess of a room. Gah! Boys!

"Ok, Bella, first we need to hook you up with an e-mail address." We get into Gmail and set her up with an e-mail. Then I hook her up on Skype as well so we can video chat, "Now let's sign you up for Facebook account, so all your old friends and new ones can keep in touch with you."

"What is a _Facebook_?" She looks at me while she asks.

"It's what is known as a social networking site. Basically, your friends pop in your name or email into the search and add you then you can play silly games, write messages on each others' accounts. It's fun."

"I don't think I need that, Alice." She looks so sad.

"Why not, Bella?"

"Well, besides you, I've never had a friend." She says sadly again and looks at the floor.

"You've never had a friend?" Really? A sweet girl like Bella? "No one at school you talked with or had lunch with?"

"Umm..." She blushes, "I wasn't allowed to." _What?_

"What?"

"Renee said 'to school and home, no talking to anyone except when a teacher calls my name in class'. She said if she found out that I was socializing with people, then she'd punish me and home school me instead. Plus…" She drifted off.

"Oh, Bella, trust me you will have lots and lots of friends here. See we'll set it up and add me, Emmett, Jasper and Edward. That's already three of the most popular guys in school!" I cheer again trying to make her feel better, "Plus _what_, Bella?" I ask remembering she said Plus softly.

"Plus, Renee said that no one would want to talk to me, because they were all so much better than me." She whispers and I pull her into a hug.

"Bella, you are sweet, kind and caring. And one of the prettiest girls I've ever met. Trust me, people will want to talk to you." I say sincerely.

"Ok." She whispers again and I can tell she doesn't believe me.

"You know you're not the only one who lacks for friends, Bella. I have some school acquaintances but my closest friends are those three meat heads that are out partying right now without us." She giggles, "I had Rose but she has changed so much lately that I feel like I don't even know her anymore. It's hard to have girls as friends when most of them just want to be your friend to be around your brother." I huff.

"Oh." Tears well up in her brown eyes, "That's wrong, you're so nice, Alice." She actually pulls me into a hug this time.

"Well, it's good that we are both so nice since you and I are now best friends. Ohhh… we can be BFFs." I tell her bouncing with joy.

"BFFs?"

"Best friends forever." She giggles.

"Ok." With a small nod she starts filling out the Facebook info. I help her to find and add me and the guys. I also get her to add Mom because I know it will make her day, Dad doesn't have Facebook.

We spend a few hours online I show her Wiki and Google, she Googles Jane Austen and finds a fan fiction site. She then does a tiny little happy dance when I explain about the site. We read some smutty Darcy and Lizzie stories and after we get off the computer, I paint her nails and help her to pick out her outfit for Edward's birthday part the next day. She's still quiet and jumps at everything but at least she is talking a little more and allowing me to call myself her friend. And if I ever see Renee, I will take Mom's SUV and run the bitch over.

**AN2: Reviews make me smile :0), and obviously get earlier updates…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**Chapter 7**

**Bella's POV**

My bedroom is dark and the only noise is coming from Alice sleeping soundly in the bed beside me. I'm thankful she has finally run out of energy, because I'm tired. She painted my toe nails and finger nails, made me put green goop on my face, which I had to wash off once it hardened. Then, I had to try on dresses from my closet, so she could pick out the perfect outfit for me to wear to Edward's birthday party. I've never been to a party before, but Alice who had appointed herself as my bff, assures me that we will have a blast.

I'm still not really sure what a 'BFF' is, but apparently I'm Alice's. I mean, Alice explained that it's 'best friends forever', but what is a best friend? I've never had a regular friend and now I have a best friend? It's a little overwhelming, especially since I have no idea what is expected of me in my new capacity as Alice's bff. Don't get me wrong, I'm honored that Alice would think of me as her friend. She is a sweet girl and while she sometimes scares me with her exuberance, I also find myself envying her as well. I envy the fact that she knows what she wants and goes for it. I envy that she knows who her parents really are; and that she knows who her brother is. Most importantly, I envy her the fact she never had to deal with Renee.

Mostly I just like her though. I think it would be hard not to like Alice. Her natural warmth and her genuine nature would leave her open to only the coldest of hearts not liking her. Renee would hate Alice.

So, now I am Alice's bff. I wonder if that means I could ask her what to call Charlie Swan? I wonder if anyone has noticed I've never directly called him a name? I honestly don't know what to call him. Charlie? Chief Swan? Mr. Swan? Dad? Father? Emmett assures me that Charlie is my Dad, but no one has told me what to call them. With Renee, even though she is my Mom, I had to call her Renee unless we were in public, where she could be judged; then it was Mom. She cringed every time I called her that and had told me many times I didn't deserve her as a Mom. That she was to good for me. These people though are so different from Renee and from what Renee told me to expect. I'm still waiting for that other shoe to fall and for them to turn into the monsters, Renee assured me, were waiting for me here.

Being sent to Forks was my punishment for annoying Renee and coming between her and Phil. According to my Mother, it was my fault that Phil was watching me in the shower that day. And it was also _my_ fault he was touching himself while he did it. Since that day, I have locked the door on the bathroom even if I'm just brushing my teeth. Renee's new husband, her husband who is almost fifteen years younger than her, made me uncomfortable at every turn. One thing I can thank Renee for, she sent me away before her husband tried to follow through on his promise to make my first time something to remember.

Renee claimed that I had _wanted_ Phil's attention. She also called me a 'little slut' and told me I was no better than a hooker on a street corner. She almost kicked me out to live on the streets. However, Phil freaked out saying something about Renee going to jail for child abuse; so, instead, they shipped me to Charlie Swan. I was told Charlie might be my Dad, but Renee wasn't sure; and that he needed a maid. So, he wouldn't mind having me here. She also told me a lot of other things that worry me at night, but so far the Swans have been nothing but kind to me, so I'm finding it harder and harder to believe Renee.

I haven't been here long but this is the kindest anyone has ever treated me in my life. I have all the food I want, instead of just mainly eating when the school serves at lunch, clothing that didn't come out of a donation bin that Renee made me steal the clothes from and I haven't been punished once since I've been here for anything. I'm terrified that it's all a dream, or that they are all faking. That this is somehow a sick elaborate joke and everyone is going to start laughing at me at any moment. Or, worse… I'm scared that they will send me back to Renee, or kick me out on the streets.

Another thing, that I can't stop wondering about, is this weird feeling of safety, and I guess the word 'home-y' best fits, that I get when Edward Cullen is around. There is something about him, something locked in his eyes that tells me that everything will be ok and he would never hurt me. Maybe I'm being fooled by his absolute beauty, but I can't help feeling safe around him.

I've actually found that I want to make these people happy so they'll stay nice and want to keep me around. Even Jasper, who I'm still leery of, I can't help but feel a sense of happiness that he seems to like me. They seem to like the food I make, so maybe that is the key to keeping them happy and liking having me around. Maybe I should make something for Edward for his birthday? But what?

"Jasper," Alice sighs in her sleep and I have to hold back a giggle. That was like the fourth time she has done that.

Closing my eyes I drift off to sleep again, wondering if when I wake up whether everyone will still be nice and what I should cook for Edward.

**Edward's POV**

After a fun night with the guys, I really didn't want to wake up. However, Emmett's freight train snoring and Jasper's foot in my face made me stop fighting the inevitable fact that I needed to get my ass out of bed and face the morning; or afternoon, if the eleven fifty five am flashing on my alarm clock was correct.

Last night we had gone bowling then went down to La Push for the bonfire and some of that firewater that was on tap. I abstained being the designated drive, how that was fair as it was my birthday celebration I still hadn't figured out, but I was out voted. How Emmett and Jasper ended up in my room after I had deposited them in the guest room, I didn't want to know. Knowing them they came in to sing some obscene version of happy birthday and decided that my bed looked comfy; and in their drunken states, crawled in forgetting to sing.

Finishing up my bathroom necessities of the morning, I wander downstairs to see what Mom has on tap for breakfast. Of course, when I reach the kitchen where Mom, Alice and Bella all were, I realize that I was still just in my boxer shorts. Bella's sweet face blushes bright red while Alice and Mom laugh at my stunned face.

"Forget something, son?" My Dad asks as he slips by me into the kitchen.

"Shit!" I say under my breath and rush back up the stairs grabbing an old pair of jeans and t-shirt before heading back down.

"Morning, boxer boy." Alice giggles.

"That's _birthday_ boxer boy to you, Shorty." I joke back.

"Happy Birthday." Bella says in her sweet hushed tones.

"Thanks." I smile at her and she blushes again. She is so freaking adorable.

"Bella made you a treat for your birthday breakfast." Alice cheers and produces a platter of Danishes.

"Wow! Seriously if there is cherry in there, I'll love you for the rest of my life." I exclaim.

"Cherry and blueberry." She blushes harder and then points to one side then the other of the platter.

"Son, I suggest you get one and start eating. We weren't allowed to have any until you got one and I've been waiting an hour now." Dad says seriously, looking at the platter with longing. I grab one of the cherry filled pastries and I think my mouth just had an orgasm, "Fuck! That's good." I moan.

"Edward, language!" Mom says her scolding voice.

"Fuck, that _is_ good." Dad repeats my words around a blueberry pastry. Mom smacks him and Alice and Bella giggle.

"Carlisle! You are a bad example for our children." She admonishes then takes a blueberry and moans into it.

"Bella, dear, these are wonderful." Mom tells her and Bella glows.

"Do I smell food?" Emmett bellows coming into the room.

"Bella made Danish." Dad is still moaning around his food. Emmett rushes over.

"Strawberry?" He asks with sad pleading eyes.

"No, idiot. Plus, did I say you can have any? It is for _my_ birthday." I wink at Bella who gives a sweet giggle.

"Cherry and blueberry." Alice says taking a Cherry. I glare at her.

"Edward, can I _please_ have a blueberry?" Emmett pouts and I laugh.

"Yes, you may." I pat his head like he's a good boy. Jasper the douche that he is comes in almost like he is still sleeping, grabs a Danish and goes to the fridge. Food hanging out his mouth, he grabs the milk, pours a cup, puts the milk away and then plops down on a stool at the island without saying a word.

"Jasper, dude, Eddie is going to hurt you! You just took his cherry Danish birthday gift from Bella." Emmett says in shock and I can't help but laugh.

"It's good." Is all Jasper says in response and my Dad laughs so hard I think he might fall off his chair.

"Bella, don't you want one?" I ask her softly. She grabs a blueberry one shyly and nibbles on it.

"So, the caterers should be here at one to start setting up and guest should start showing up around four. So children we need to get a move on." Mom tells us in her sweet but firm voice; meaning finish eating and get your ass in gear.

"Can I help?" Bella asks her sweetly. Shit! Bella is sweet; no wonder whenever she says something it sounds sweet.

"Actually, Bella. You and Alice can help me out if you wouldn't mind getting the dishes in the dishwasher put away and helping lock up the rooms that guest are not welcomed in. Jasper and Emmett, each of you can take one of the guest bathrooms and clean them up. It shouldn't take much; just make sure there are full sets of soap and toilet paper in there. Also, clean the toilets." Ha! The guys have to clean the downstairs half bath and the second floor guest bathroom.

"Mom, anything I can do?" I offer.

"No, baby boy, it's your birthday you don't have to do anything." She gives me a warm hug.

"Actually, Edward, I was hoping you'd come with me for a little ride." Dad says and I agree, "My love, I will have the birthday boy home by three thirty; so he will have time to change." Dad kisses Mom on the head and we take off for the day.

~0~

"Charlie, there you are." Dad calls out and Chief Swan joins us out on the boat dock in La Push.

"Happy birthday, Edward." He gives me a man-hug.

"Thanks, Charlie." I look at the two of them, "So, what exactly are we doing?"

"Edward, there comes a time in every young man's life when his father and his father's best friend teach him things that all men need to know about being a man." My Dad says seriously.

"Dad, we already had the facts of life talk." Plus, I wasn't a virgin anymore thanks to Tanya and her handcuffs; I shudder at the thought.

"Son, that is not what your father was talking about." Charlie says with a smile and produces fishing poles.

"I've gone fishing before." I say. I'm starting to think these two are either on drugs or had been drinking already today.

"Yes, Edward, you have." Dad laughs, probably remembering the first time he took me fishing and every time he or Charlie would catch a fish and put in the bucket, I'd toss it back into the water. I was five and had just seen a movie about fishes that talked I thought it was murder, so I freed them. Needless to say, it was a few years before they took me with them again.

"Edward, your coming into a time in your life where you will be having more and more responsibility laid on you. Where you will be getting into serious relationships with women and one day be blessed with children." Charlie says with a smile.

"However, you are lucky to have us, son, for we are going to teach you something that our fathers' taught us when we were your age. Son, this is a lesson on getting out of helping set up a party and/ or other things you don't want to do." Dad laughs at my face, "This does _not_ include homework or school, or even your job once you get one. It's a get out of housework free card." Charlie is unloading his fishing boat into the water.

"Ok, fishing is the key to this?" Seriously?

"Yes, son, get in the boat." Charlie tells me and I hop on and sit down, "Take a pole," I do and wait for my next set of instructions. When we get out into the water, Dad and Charlie hand me bait and we set our lines out.

"Now, Edward," Dad starts, "Say… you're having a formal party at the house or your wife is having a girl party that you don't want to be around for or don't want to help set up for. At five or six in the morning you announce that you are going fishing because the guest would love some fresh grilled fish; or that you would love to help her lady friend get together out _by_ providing fresh fish for the party." I look at Dad like he is nuts.

"Edward, that gives you an excuse to get out of the house, so you are not there for cleaning and set up." Charlie says slyly.

"What if she says be back by such and such time?"

"You agree, son. _But_ you left your cell phone in the car, lost track of time _and_ didn't get any of her calls. Or, you fell off the boat. _There…_ you get sympathy because you could have been hurt. You can only use the falling once every other year or so though. The leaving the phone is easier." Dad tells me with a smile.

"In _dire_ need… like once every five year circumstances your 'dropped your phone in the water' excuse can be used. Your Dad's favorite has always been to accidently leave his phone in his briefcase; so when your Mom calls the phone is right there at the house." They both laugh.

"But, isn't that deceitful?" I was kind of appalled and kind of intrigued.

"Edward, Edward, Edward… have you never paid attention to how… umm, how to put this delicately? _Bitchy_ your mom can get when she is setting up for a party. I don't do this for everyone of them, but there are times when I've worked almost sixty hours that week at the hospital that I don't feel like cleaning the toilet only to be told I didn't do it right and have her do it again. Your Mother is the most wonderful loving woman and the love of my life, _but_ there are times when she scares the shit out of me and I hide like a two year old scared of being scolded." He says with a loving smile.

"Edward, my Hope was a lot like your Mother. However, the same as your Mom, she could turn into a Nazi when a party or some kind of gathering that she needed to prepare for came up. The sweetest of souls can turn scary until they know everything went perfectly and no one in town had anything bad to say about it."

"Edward, picture Alice on two cups of coffee, shopping for the perfect outfit for the first day of school. Or worse, her prom dress." My eyes almost popped out of my head and I turned to stare at my Dad, "That, son, _is_ your mother preparing for a party."

"But Mom's never scolded me when I helped set up for a party." I just couldn't see my sweet Mom doing that.

"Of course, not, son. She carried you for nine months in her womb; it gives you a free pass to screw up. I, however, am just her husband. While she didn't scold you or Alice, she did however, go behind you and redo whatever job she had asked of you."

"Ok, that is scary." I admit.

"Hence, why we fish, boy." Charlie claps me on the back and reels in his first catch of the day.

"Ok, so we fish." I smile and laugh knowing that I will never have to do this silly hiding out. Of course, eight years later I would have to eat my own words and I also sent my Dad and Charlie thank you cards after it happened. But that is a tale for another time.

~0~

"And, Emmett said she couldn't stop talking about that dog." Charlie was telling us about Bella falling in love with Victoria's dog. It was a cute story. Charlie and Dad couldn't stop smiling at the idea of Bella playing and laughing freely. We were loading the boat back up and heading back to the house for my party.

"Charlie that is so wonderful. That Bella was able to openly laugh and play, even if it was with a dog. It shows that the damage Renee has done can be healed. Not to say that Bella will ever forget what happened to her before, but I have a good feeling that Bella is going to have a long happy life now that she has all of us." Dad tells Charlie smiling.

"I think once Bella realizes how much we all care for her and that she has a strong support system here, she will start to heal even more." I tell them.

"I think so too, son." Charlie claps me on the shoulder as he says that. His voice is filled with hope.

"Now it's time to get going back to the house, or your Mom will kill all of us." Dad jokes, but we all comply quickly and soon Dad and I are back at the house. Charlie had to run home to change. Even though he couldn't stay for the whole party because he has work, he was coming for a little while. I think mainly to make sure Bella was ok.

"Hey, big brother." Alice giggles running by in a white strapless sundress with pretty pink flowers and matching pink high heels shoes that should have been illegal as they were so high.

"Hey, Ali-cat." I joke back with her nickname.

"Clothes are on your bed ready to go. And take a shower! You smell like fish." She screwed her face in disgust. I thanked her and rushed up the stairs to get ready. After showering, I tossed on the blue button up, skinny tie and black jeans and my black Nikes before heading back down the stairs.

"Edward." Dad greets with a wicked smile and I wonder what he's hiding. He looks like the 'king of beige land' in his khaki pants and lightly stripped button up.

"Dad." I say back. Then, I was hit by a vision in lavender and lightly curled mahogany hair. Bella was wearing a pretty lavender sun dress with cute flats and she had on light makeup. She was beautiful, "You look beautiful, Bella." I tell her when I catch my breath.

"Thank you." She whispers with a blush.

"Hey, birthday boy!" Emmett yells coming in the room with Victoria. Oh, shit! I hope Rosalie doesn't cause a scene when she gets here. _If she is still coming._

"Bella, you look so pretty." Victoria tells her with a smile. Bella smiles back shyly.

"Thank you, you look pretty too." I have to admit Victoria's light green dress with the pretty peach flowers does go well with her coloring. _God, I hang out with Alice too much._

"Victoria, welcome," I smile greeting her.

"Thanks, Edward, happy birthday."

"Hello, Victoria. Emmett." Opps I forgot Dad was in the room. He is looking awfully smug too.

"Hi, Dr. Cullen," Victoria says politely.

"Hey, Daddy C," Emmett does the ever manly fist bump with my Dad.

"Victoria, please call me Carlisle."

"Bella, dear, I need your help for a moment." Mom comes in with Alice and takes Bella out of the room. I did catch the look she tossed Dad before they left.

"Ok, I guess that is my cue. Kids, do us a favor and make sure that Bella isn't left alone, one of you should be with her at all times. It's not that we don't trust your classmates, we just don't want her over whelmed." Dad explains.

"I already planned on it." Emmett says with a determined voice.

"I'll help too." Victoria promises.

"I'll tell Jasper when he gets here so he knows the plan." Alice says, doing her usual sigh after saying Jasper's name. Poor kid has it bad. Maybe one day when she finishes high school, or maybe college, I'll be ok with it. Maybe graduate school, she'd be in her mid twenties by then.

"What did Mom need Bella for?" I ask curiously.

"That was a ruse to get her out of the room, she is showing her the buffet table trying to get a second opinion on the lay out." Alice giggles.

"Ahh..." Before I could say anything else, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it." Alice chirps and takes for the door, probably hoping it's Jasper. I follow close behind her.

"Edward, my man, you ready to party?" Mike Newton calls as he, Eric Yorkie, Tyler Crowley and Felix Reynolds come in the house followed by their dates. Oh, shit! They brought Lauren and Jessica! Fuck my life.

~0~

Three hours later, the majority of the incoming senior class, some of the outgoing seniors and a good bit of the sophomores and juniors were partying in my house. Emmett, Jasper and I put out the word very quickly that anyone who fucks with Bella would be dead. Newton did his all American boy, 'I mean no harm, but I am thinking dirty thoughts about you' flirt with her. Bella just blushed then hid behind me. I pulled him aside later and explained that flirting with Bella will land him with just as many broken bones as flirting with Alice. Actually, probably more, since Emmett would probably want to handle him. Newton backed off though. He's not a bad guy, just a major flirt who loves shiny new things. _Be it a person or a toy._

Jessica and Lauren have both been pains in my ass tonight, as per usual. My father explained that they were cases of the apple not falling far from the tree. Jessica offered to give me a birthday blow job, while Lauren offered a three way with her and Jess as a gift. I politely turned both their offers down. I personally believe that sex wasn't just something you did for the hell of it. I need to care about the girl at least before I'm ready to have sex with her. If it is just for release, I have two hands that can do the job.

Back to Lauren though, I did notice that she glared at Bella when it was my turn to stay with her. Bella stayed right at my side and I even tricked her out on to the dance floor when it was a slow number. She blushed and giggled a little, it was sweet. Even when she almost fell over when I spun her around was adorable. Lauren apparently saw Bella as the reason I turned her offer down tonight. I had to remember to fill the rest of the gang in on that little bit of info later.

Rosalie didn't start a fight with Victoria, though it came close. She glared and tried to pull Emmett to the side. Emmett informed her that they could talk later. That tonight was about me and my birth. Rose then took it upon herself to, I guess you'd call it, do a 'dirty dance' with several guys when she knew Emmett could see her.

I have no idea what is going on with Rosalie. The old Rose would have smacked Emmett upside the head and dragged him away from the other woman. I was worried that this new Rose was going to start taking her anger out on other people. I really worried she was going to blame Bella for her break up with Emmett and go after her. I wasn't worried about Victoria, she can handle herself.

"Edward, have you seen Bella?" Alice asks coming up beside me.

"Jasper took her to get some food." Alice smiles and sighs when I say Jasper.

"Jasper is so sweet." And she is so in need of a Jasper Anonymous group.

"He is a good friend." I say.

"Hey, what's up, Cullens?" Emmett and Victoria join us in my hiding spot near the French doors leading to the patio.

"Not much. I was worried I hadn't seen Bella, but Edward said Jasper took her for food." Alice tells him.

"Are you sure?" Victoria asks looking puzzled.

"Yeah."

"Then why is he on the dance floor with Amber Jordan right now?" We all look then look at each other. Alice's face is unreadable and I honestly felt bad for her, but now was not the time.

"Emmett, you get Jasper. Alice, take a look outside with Victoria. I'll start in the kitchen and work my way back. Em, when get Jasper, you both take the second floor." We broke apart and went in search of our missing friend.

Newton and Jessica were making out in the foyer, really couldn't they find a private corner? Tyler was explaining to Felix and Eric about how his parents got him a soccer Mom van for a ride and how he hated the damn thing. They, of course, were just laughing at him. I caught sight of my parents making out in a corner like teenagers and it made me a little nauseous.

"Edward, are you ok?" Angela Webber, a sweet kid from my sister's class asks.

"Not really." I told her running my hand through my hair, "Have you seen Emmett's sister, Bella?" Angela gave me a soft genuine smile.

"She was in line for the little girls' room about two minutes ago. I saw her as I left. She looked fine then Edward." Oh, thank God.

"Thanks, Angela. It's just she is new and we…" I trailed off.

"She is a very shy person and seems very nice. And I know you, Em and Jasper are probably very _over_-protective right now because she is new. But, Edward, this is _Forks_. The majority of us are decent people. Don't worry so much."

"You're right. I need to go find her though, Ang." She waves me off and I go back to my search.

**Bella POV**

My bladder feels like it's going to explode. God, I hope this line hurries up. I wonder if Alice would let me use her bathroom if I ask her really nicely. Jasper had left me in the kitchen, telling me to wait there. But I really, really have to go. I hope no one is mad at me for this. Surely, they would prefer it that I use the bathroom rather than ruin the floors.

"So, you're Emmett's little sister..." A snooty voice says behind me. I turn to see a hostile looking blond glaring at me.

"Umm, yes?"

"I don't see what is so special about you." She says. I look at the floor and try to pretend she isn't there, "God, are you retarded or something?" She laughs and pushes me a little. I go on trying to ignore her, "Listen, bitch, you might think you're too good to talk to me, but you're nothing but trash. My Mom filled me in about your Mom. 'Charlie's little mistake' is what you were called. No wonder he hid you away all these years." I look at her.

"What is your problem with me?" I ask softly. I'm trying to pretend the other people in line aren't there to save myself some embarrassment.

"You come in here and think you are so special. You've got the Cullens buying you things, you broke up Emmett and Rosalie so you could hog him to yourself. And _now…_ you are trying to come between me and what is mine." All I could think is that this girl is deranged.

"I don't think I'm special." I whisper.

"Bitch, please. The first thing I hear when coming in here tonight is not to fuck with Bella." She glares, "Well, Bella, you don't fuck with me. Stay away from Edward or I'll make your life a living hell." Hell? I've already lived there.

"Lauren." A voice says behind us. I swear ice was dripping from every word.

"Rosalie." The girl I now know as Lauren says, her voice sounds a little nervous now.

"Lauren, weren't you told to leave Bella alone?"

"Like you care, Rose, she got between you and Emmett and now Vicky is all over him."

"Lauren, I don't know where you got your information from, but you are _way_ off. Emmett and I broke up, Bella may have been an issue we argued over but she _wasn't_ the fucking cause. As for Vicky, that is between Em and I. Now, I suggest you step away from Bella before I end you."

"Rose, don't you realize that this girl is ruining all of our lives?" How? I wondered.

"Lauren, I'll put it this way, you fuck with Bella; you're fucking with me. Now, do you _honestly_ want to fuck with me?" But Lauren never got a chance to answer because Edward came in like a white knight to save me. He called my name and I rushed to his side.

**Edward POV**

I stopped breathing when I saw the train wreck in front of me. There, beside our downstairs half bath, was a sight that made my stomach drop like a lead balloon. Rosalie and Lauren were looming in front of my sweet Bella. Bella was pushed up against the wall as the two of them talked in hushed angry tones. I wasn't close enough to make out the words but I could hear the voices. It didn't sound pretty.

"Bella." I said in a loud enough voice that she could hear me. Her brown eyes fixated on me and she walked quickly to my side. I hug her close and whisper that everything will be ok.

"Thank God, you found her." Alice says coming up and getting in on the hugging. I pass Bella off to Alice and walk over to the two blondes who were still staring at each other. Both look like they want the other dead.

"I thought I made myself clear when I said Bella was off limits." I said in a firm voice.

"Edward, please we were just having a little 'girl talk' while waiting to powder our noises." Lauren simpers. Rosalie growls and glares at her…

"Lauren, I think you should leave now." Lauren looks shocked and glares at Rose again, then Bella.

"One day, Edward, you will wake up and realize we are perfect for each other." She tosses her hair back, puts her nose in the air and walks by me without another word. I glance and see Jasper in my peripheral vision.

"Make sure she goes." I tell him. He nods and follows Lauren.

"Rosalie…" I stop when Bella comes between us.

"Don't please, she helped me." Bella's brown eyes look at me pleadingly, "She was telling the other girl to leave me alone."

"Edward, I might be a bitch and I might say the wrong things sometimes, but I'm _not_ unfeeling. And I am a rational human being who knows that my break up with Emmett was not anyone's fault but mine and his." Rose looks at me and I see a little of the old Rosalie in her. The one I would expect this from.

"Thank you, Rose." Alice says giving a smile.

"No problem." She notices Emmett and Victoria and her face goes blank, "I'm heading out. Happy birthday, Eddie." With that she walks away without even a glance backwards. Strange, very strange.

"Bella, what did Lauren say to you?" Alice was asking.

"I don't want to talk about it." Bella whispers, "I just want to go home." I look at her sad little face and I can't help it. I walk over and pull her back into my arms. She curls into my body and I know then and there that I would rather die than see her hurt. That I would kill to protect her. Somehow this little fragile girl had become an important part of my very existence. I'm not sure what this means or why I feel so protective of her, but I am. She matters and I didn't want her to leave.

"Bella," I say gently and her beautiful brown eyes look up at me, "How about we go upstairs and put a movie in, eat a ton of junk food and pretend these people aren't down here enjoying my birthday more than I am?"

"But it's your party." She whispers.

"A party that _Alice_ wanted; not me." Alice giggles and nods.

"It's true, all me."

"We can give you your gifts. I'll go grab them." Jasper says with a smile.

"I'll get the food." Alice offers.

"I'll help Alice." Victoria says. The two of them going towards the kitchen.

"Hey, I'll be right back." Emmett says giving me a look. I knew where he was going. I nod letting him know that I won't leave her side.

"Come on, Bella, let's go pick out the movie before Alice gets up there and we have to watch Raising Helen again." She giggles and follows me up the stairs, her little hand firmly held in mine.

**Rose's POV**

Why do I feel like I'm living a country song? I lost my man, lost my friends and I can't stop the hurt. And I kind of want to take a baseball bat to Edward for thinking I'd actually attack Bella. I mean, if I do that I have no chance in hell of ever being with Emmett again.

"Rose." A chill ran up my spine when I heard his voice say my name.

"Emmett." I turn to face him.

"Thank you for helping Bella."

"No one should have to deal with Lauren." I say honestly.

"I agree, but you also didn't have to put yourself out there for her and _yet_ you did. If anyone here has a right to feel a grudge against my sister it's you. Yet, you put any animosity aside and protected her. Thank you." He said gently.

"Emmett, like I said I might be a bitch, but I'm not going to kick her while she is down. Plus, Charlie has filled my Dad in on a lot. I know how Renee treated her and no kid deserves that." I give a small smile, "Plus how could I not protect her, Emmett, she is part of you and I love you." He shakes his head.

"You keep giving me these glimpses of the woman I love, then you become the cold stranger I don't know again so fast I feel like I'm getting whiplash. Rose, I'll love you forever probably, but I can't be with you. When you figure out who you really are, or feel like telling me why you've changed, _then_ we can talk. But, Rose, I can't be your doormat." I know where he is coming from but I just can't, it hurts so badly. I felt the need to protect myself.

"If you love me so fucking much, how come you're here with Victoria?" I spat.

"Vicky is a friend, she has been nothing but good to me. It's not a fucking date, Rose. Plus even if I wanted it to be a date you have no say, we broke up." He says firmly.

"I can't believe you can just walk away like this."

"It's not easy, Rosie. But for now, it's for the best." I try to pull him into a hug but he resists, "Let me walk you to your car." I give a small nod and let him. As I drive away I look into my review mirror and see Emmett looking so broken and torn. It takes all I have to keep going. Leaving was hurting me so bad, but if I told him the truth I'd be killing us both.

**AN2: Reviews get quicker updates ;0) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Thanks to the kick ass wonder TwiDi, who is the best beta, great friend and all around wonderful person. **

**Charlie POV**

Esme had called me late last night to let me know that the kids were all passed out asleep in Edward's room. From what she said, they all had disappeared from Edward's party and when she and Carlisle went looking for them, they were found spread out around Edward's room with a movie going and a whole lot of snoring. She also told me she took pictures so I can see later.

I was excited to find out how Bella did at the party. Did she have a good time? Were people nice to her? I wish I could have gotten off duty so I could stay the length of the party. However, I have taken a good bit of time off lately and couldn't swing it. I trusted Carlisle and Esme to watch over her though. And over Emmett as well, of course.

My sweet Bella, when the boys brought me dinner the other night and said she had made it and had especially made up a to go plate for me, hell, it warmed my old heart. For someone who has gone through heaven knows what kind of horrors in her young life, to put others' needs before herself; and she did so without even having to be asked was just amazing. I was coming to realize that my daughter was an extremely caring and responsible individual; so vastly different from her mother. _Thank God._

The sound of Emmett's jeep pulling up got my attention. Flipping on the TV, I leaned back trying to act nonchalant.

"Hey, Dad." Emmett said coming in, Bella was right behind him.

"Hi." She says softly.

"Hey, kids. Did you have fun?"

"For the most part." Em said with an exaggerated sigh, "Too many people; way too much drama. You know, basic high school crap."

"What about you, Bella?" I asked my quiet daughter.

"It was ok, a lot of food and music. And I danced with Edward." She smiles and I swear she is glowing. Uh-oh, I owe Carlisle ten bucks. Damn!

"I've never danced with someone before. He was really sweet and patient when I stepped on his feet." She gives a cute little giggle. I swear that was the longest sentence I've ever heard her say all at once.

"Sounds like it was fun."

"Hey, Dad, do you mind if Vicky comes with us to the BBQ on the fourth?"_ Vicky?_

"I don't mind, you know that. Between the Cullens, Blacks, Clearwaters, Whitlocks and us, there will be more food than anyone could ever eat." I look at my son, "You know the Hales pulled out this year, right?"

"I figured they would. They only came because of Rosie and I being a couple. As nice as the Hales are, they've never been one for socializing with people from the Rez." I had to agree with my son there. Nick was a great guy, but after getting his heart broken by a girl from the Rez when he was in high school, he really wanted nothing to do with it after. He blamed the people for ripping his relationship apart.

"Well, we'll finally get a chance to introduce Billy to Bella. He's been waiting for some time to get up here to see her, but since the accident, it's been harder for him to get around." I told Em. I noticed a moment ago Bella slipped quietly from the living room and into the kitchen. From the smells that are starting to permeate from there, I have this feeling we are going to have a wonderful lunch. I lowered my voice, "How did it really go for her?"

"She did great, except Lauren the bitch Mallory decided to attack her. Rosie got up in Lauren's face though; and Edward got to Bella in time. She seemed to be fine later when we were all watching the movie upstairs." He gave me a genuine smile.

"Lauren gets her bitchiness from her Mom." I said bluntly.

"And her slutty-ness as well." Em jokes back. I nod and agree with him.

**Edward POV**

The next morning after my birthday, once Jasper, Emmett and Bella had left to go home, I went back up to my room and was stunned to find a book on my bed. It was the complete works of Jane Austen and inside was a note:

_No matter how hard life gets, these stories always have a way_

_of making me happy. I hope you can find joy in them too._

_Bella_

I felt privileged that she shared something that personal with me. In her own sweet way, she was giving me access to her happy place. The place she went when life was shitty. Of all the gifts I received, I knew this one was my favorite. Though it was _girlie_ and not something you'd normally give a seventeen year old guy, still it was truly from the heart. I knew I'd cherish it always. I slowly laid on my bed and opened the book. I folded the note and placed in the back of the book before laying down to get lost in Bella's happy place.

~0~

The days passed quickly between my birthday and the fourth of July. As per usual, we were all headed down to First Beach out on La Push in the Indian Reservation for a big gathering. Mom and Bella had both been cooking up a storm yesterday. I know that because I was kicked out of both kitchens for sticking my finger in the mixing bowl. With Mom I got a slap on the hand, with Bella she just stepped back and gave me this pissed off little look. It sort of said, 'I want to yell at you but I won't, I'll just glare instead'. Needless to say, both tastes had only wet my appetite.

Alice, my darling sister, had decided to co-ordinate colors for us all. Emmett and Victoria were in shades of red, Bella and I drew black and white and Alice and Jasper were blue and white. I have no idea why Alice did this except for the fact that she is Alice. So, I have my white wife beater on over my long black board shorts and a pair of flip flops ready to go.

"Mary Alice Cullen, you have three minutes to get down here or we are leaving you home." Dad yelled up the stairs, we've been waiting for her for half an hour, so it wasn't unreasonable for him to say that. I guess she was perfecting the perfect beach hair and makeup.

"Coming." Alice's musical voice came and she was soon trotting down the stairs in a cute white sundress style cover up. She bought Bella a matching one for her suit as well.

"You look adorable, sweetheart." Mom told her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." She giggles, "I just hope Bella will actually wear her suit." She gave a tiny pout.

"Alice, if she doesn't, don't give her a hard time about it, ok?" Dad implores of his youngest child.

"Of course not, Daddy, I know Bella might not be able to handle it, I'm hoping she can though." I smile. Alice is such a sweetheart, a pain in the ass sometimes, but she has a heart of gold.

"Let's roll!" I exclaim. We all went and loaded into the SUV and headed for some fun in the meager amount of sun.

~0~

"Bren!" Mom runs and hugs her best friend, Jasper's Mom. Alice ran over to hug Jackson, Jasper's Dad and see Billy Black. I notice the Swan family has yet to arrive and I was a little worried about it.

"Hey, Cullen, what's up?" Jacob Black asks coming over and I groan under my breath. The kid gets on my nerves.

"Nothing, how are you?" I ask politely.

"Good, good. Looking forward to seeing what Charlie's daughter looks like. I heard from Newton that she is a hottie." He gives me a shit eating grin.

"Jacob, hands off." I say looking the little twerp in the eyes. I don't know why, but the idea of him touching Bella, made me want to rip his head off and shove it up his rear.

"It's like that?" Jake says a little less friendly. I didn't know what he meant, but I gave a sharp nod.

"Behave and hands off her; and we stay cool, man." I tell him bluntly. He nods and walks away. I know he and Em get along but there is something about him I just don't trust, at all.

"Bella!" I hear Alice squeal and see a flash of black and white rush past me. I notice the Swans have arrived.

Charlie and Emmett are unloading the coolers. Victoria is standing behind Bella in a pair of jean shorts and red t-shirt. Bella is wearing the match to Alice's cover up. She looks adorable, her long brown hair in a ponytail high on her head. When she notices me looking, I give a wave, she timidly waves back with a bright red blush creeping onto her face. So fucking adorable.

"Hey, Em." I greet my friend as he comes to stand next to me.

"Yo, Eddie." He jokes.

"Jasper is getting some boogey boards out to play in the water with." I inform him.

"Cool." He looks at me with an evil glint in his eyes, "So, you'll never guess who I saw this morning when I went into Newton's to get a new line for Dad's rod."

"A Newton maybe?" I say with my left brow raised.

"Well, besides Mike the piss ant." He says laughing and I shake my head.

"No clue, man."

"_Tanya_." My stomach flops and I look around as a safety precaution.

"Dude, you didn't tell her we were going to be here today did you?"

"Hell no, man. Bros before hoes and all that." He jokes.

"Thank God."

I shudder as I think of my ex. We dated for a while, but I never knew the real Tanya till after we had sex. About three weeks after we began to have sex on a regular basis, she handcuffed me to the bed, kept smacking my ass and telling me I was a bad boy. She also was wearing a leather thong and bra set. Did I mention she gagged me? While I was not raped, I had felt a bit violated after that. So, yeah, I broke up with her. She still refuses to accept that we are finished, fin, done, over. In her mind, we are on an extended break. God knows I can't wait to go to college and get away from the psycho.

"Hi." The sweet soft voice of Bella says beside me.

"Hi." I say back.

"Hola, baby sister." Emmett tosses out.

"Where is Alice?" I ask wondering where my kid sister went off too.

"Helping Jasper." She says politely, but gives a little quiet giggle.

"What's the giggle for, kiddo?" Em demands gently.

"Umm…" She looks around like she isn't sure she should tell us.

"Just tell them, Bella." Victoria comes up laughing and puts a hand on Bella's shoulder to show sisterly strength I guess.

"She umm… saw Jasper, sighed and said he needed help with his board shorts then qualified that as boards and took off after him." She blushes again.

"That's to be expected." I tell her, "An alone Jasper is a target that Alice can't help but aim at." Em laughs.

"True. So true." He says.

"Victoria, how are you?" I ask the new comer to our group.

"Good." She smiles and looks at me funny, "You can call me Vicky, you know, it's what I mainly go by. Victoria is too close to Victoria Suzanne, the name my Mom screams when I'm in trouble." She jokes.

"Vicky it is then." I smile at her.

"Bubba couldn't come." Bella pouts a little.

"Huh?" I was lost.

"My dog, he wasn't allowed to come." Vicky explains with a chuckle, "Bella tried to argue that he could be her date, but my Dad explained that the fireworks later would scare him too much."

"Bella is in love with that dog." Emmett tells me.

"He's sweet." Bella smiles.

"Guys, water, now." Jasper beckons looking around wildly. I notice Alice has lost her cover up and is standing on the edge of the water in her blue and white bikini. Poor Jasper he is trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Let's go save Jazz." Em jokes and I nod.

"Ladies, would you care to join us in the water?"

They both nod and walk over to where Jazz and Alice have set up the towels. Bella takes her cover up off shyly. It's a cute one-piece bathing suit, white with black butterflies. And while you can see some of her scars, you can also see how beautiful she is even more so. Vicky is wearing a red with white polka dot bikini with a strip going down the center to make it sort of one piece_ish_. It confused me to be honest. Though from the drool coming off Em's mouth, you can see he likes it, a lot.

"Let's swim!" Em bellows picking up Vicky and running into the water with her. Bella gives a cute giggle and watches them.

"You ready?" I ask her. She nods and reaches out and takes my hand without looking at me. I give a gentle squeeze and walk with her into the tepid ocean.

~0~

After an hour of horsing around in the water and watching how natural Bella was in said water, we were all beckoned to eat. Mom fixed Bella's plate because she was worried that with all the extra people around, it might make Bella even more timid when it comes to meal time. She made sure the plate was full and discreetly watched Bella eat to make sure she was getting enough into her. I've never seen anyone look as euphoric as Bella does during eating. Ok, maybe Em.

"Man, I can't eat another bite." Emmett complains after his third cheese burger. Honestly, I wasn't sure how he was able to eat that one, seeing as he had two hot dogs, lots of different types of salads and sides. The man was a human garbage disposal.

"Me neither." Jazz states, patting his belly. I noticed that the girls seem to be silently laughing at how much the two of them consumed. Don't get me wrong, I can pack it in, but the two of them made me look like a light weight.

Bella quietly gets up taking the pile of empty paper plates with her. I watch as she places them into the big trash bag we have set up to stop us from littering. She then goes over to my Mom, who promptly pulls Bella into a light hug. I see them whispering and wish I had vampire hearing so I'd know what is being said. Mom smiles and I watch as she and Bella begin to pack up the perishables into the coolers.

"Hey, Edward, wanna toss the ball around?" Emmett gets my attention and I agree. I smile at the big lug when he lifts eight year old Seth Clearwater onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride. Em is clearly going to let all the guys play, no matter their ages. Big old softy.

**Bella's POV**

Edward and Alice's Mom, Esme, as she insist I call her, is letting me help her put things away so I didn't feel so useless. I'm not used to not being the one doing everything. Though, I have to admit it is kind of nice. I also have to admit that I'm enjoying this day at the beach. I've never been to the ocean before, even when we lived in Boston. I really enjoyed the wave jumping Alice had shown me. The feel of the water rushing under me as I leapt a little was exhilarating.

"You must be Isabella?" A voice pulls me out of thoughts. I turn to see a tall Native American boy with a large smile looking at me. It was a bit unnerving, the intensity at which he was staring at me.

"Yes." I say softly, looking around. I see Charlie Swan and feel relief; he's only a few feet away. Something deep inside says that Charlie Swan wouldn't let this boy hurt me.

"I'm Jacob Black, friends call me Jake. Our Dads are friends." I give a tentative smile.

"Hi." I say in my usual soft tone.

"So, how do you like Forks?"

"It's nice." I say with sincerity. So far, it has been the best place I've ever lived. No one has yelled at me, punished me, or starved me. In fact, they all seem to want to force food down my throat.

"So, do you miss your Mom being so far away from her and all?" I jump back and look at this boy. He's the first person to ask me this. Honestly, I don't miss Renee. At all. If I say this, will it be the wrong answer? Is this a trick question? Oh my God. My heart is racing a little.

"Black." I hear the velvet tones of Edward Cullen and feel his arm come gently around my shoulders.

"Cullen." Jacob says in a cold dead voice to Edward. The fact that he is looking at Edward like he wants to hurt him, makes me take an immediate dislike for this Jacob boy.

"Bella, sweetheart, come on." Edward pulls me gently away, his hand now holding mine. I can feel my body begin to relax.

"Thank you." I whisper gently to him.

"For what?" He asks looking at me.

"He…" I don't know how to put it. What if it was a trick? But Edward makes me feel so safe.

"What is it, baby?" A chill went up my spine when he calls me that. I don't think he even notices.

"He asked me if I missed Renee." I tell him so quietly he almost misses it. I look up and his eyes now are so cold they scare me.

"He did?" Edward asks me in a chilly voice.

"Yes." _Am I in trouble?_

"Emmett!" Edward yells and I start to shake a little. Emmett, my brother I remind myself rushes over.

"What?" He looks between Edward and I and I think he picks up on the off vibe.

"Black asked your sister if she misses Renee." Emmett's face gets red.

"We told that little shit…" The voices trail off as the two of them start walking away towards Jacob Black. Jasper and Alice are quickly at my side asking what happened. I'm scared to tell them, in case someone else gets mad at me. I just want to go back to Charlie Swan's house and hide in my room.

"Bella, you need to tell me, darlin'." Jasper implores.

"They're mad at me." I whisper.

"Why?" Alice asks, seeming confused.

"Umm… you see Jacob asked me about missing Renee and I didn't answer and Edward pulled me away and I told him. He got mad and called Em; and they left me here. They were so angry. But I…" I stopped Jasper took off in a run towards Emmett and Edward. I noticed they had Jacob Black cornered.

"Bella, they are not mad at _you_. They are mad at Jacob." Alice informs me, "He asked you an inappropriate question and it angered them." She assures me.

"Really?" Renee always blamed everything on me, so I just assumed they would too.

"Really." Alice hugs me.

We both turn in when the guys come back up. Emmett pulls me into a huge bone-crushing hug. Jasper is smiling and Edward is pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Assholes." Alice smacks Edward and Emmett on the backs of their heads, "She thought you were mad at her, taking off like that." She growls.

"No, Bella, you've done nothing wrong." Edward assures me.

"No, Bella, we're mad at Jake. Stupid idiot was told _not_ to bring up your Mother." Emmett growls.

"Oh."

"Bella, I know this is going to be hard for you, but you need to learn to trust us, darlin'." Jasper informs me, "We are not going to hurt you. We're your friends and family. Edward is a little shit half the time with his moody behavior and we still love him." He jokes messing up Edward's hair. I give a small smile.

Trust? Can I do that? Can I give them that much? A little at a time. Not everything. Just in case of. The scars on my body were proof to me that I needed to be careful of who and how much trust I place in people. I took them all in and decided to try. I'd give an inch and hope they don't push me back a yard. God, please don't let them hurt me. I prayed.

"I don't." I whisper.

"Don't what, Bella?" Edward looks hurt and I realize they didn't know about my internal monologue.

"I don't miss Renee." I say firmly. Emmett makes a whooping noise and swings me around in another hug. He's grinning like I've just handed him a million dollars.

"I don't either." Charlie Swan says coming up to our little group. I give him a small smile and his face lights up, "Are you ok, sweetheart? The boys told me what happened."

"Yes, I'm fine." And honestly I think I am fine. I still don't trust them all the way, but I'm trying. Really I am.

"Good." He pats my shoulder and walks back over to his friends.

"Go play ball, boys!" Alice sends them on their way, "We need girl talk." I look to where they are running to play ball and see Vicky with a little boy showing him how to properly use a bat. It was sweet, "Are you really ok, Bella? Bff to bff?" Alice insists.

"Yes." I smile at my self-appointed bff. And I decide to trust her enough with the one thing that has bugged me since I got here, "Alice, can I ask you something and it be kept between us?" She gets a huge grin on her face.

"Yes! That is so what a bff is for Bella." I giggle a little.

"Alice, what should I call Charlie Swan?"

"Well, Bella, you could go with 'Charlie' if you want, but I'd bet you my trust fund that the best thing you could call him is 'Dad'." She says seriously.

"Ok." I tell her. Charlie or Dad. I just had to decide. At least I was one step closer now though.

~0~

The fireworks over the water blew my mind. Beautiful is an understatement. They popped and sparkled bright colors, that fell from the sky like a rain cloud of red, blue and white. I was happy to be back at Charlie's though. In my soft bed. I love this bed so much.

I'm so tired. The day was long and eventful. Though I have to say it ranks up there with the best days of my life. I couldn't stifle the yawn that escaped past my lips. Snuggling down into the top sheet, I fall quickly into a deep sleep.

~0~

Three days after the fourth of July trip to the beach, I received the greatest gift ever. I had just finished putting away dinner and washing the dishes up, when a knock came at the door. Emmett ran to get it and Charlie sat watching the game in the living room.

"It's just Edward." Emmett jokes coming back into the room.

"Hi Charlie, Bella." He gives us both a smile. I have to admit Edward is the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Inside and out.

"Hi." I say softly.

"Hello, Edward, how are you?" Charlie asks him.

"Good, good." He grins.

I sit on the sofa beside Emmett and Edward walks over in front of me. His smile is lighting up his face and his eyes look full of life. And for some reason, I have an overwhelming urge to touch his strong jaw line.

"Bella, Charlie, as you know Jasper and Emmett gave me tickets to a baseball game for next week. I just wanted to personally invite you both to go with us. My parents, Alice and Jazz and Em are already going."

"Sounds like fun." Charlie agrees, then gets the exact date information from him to make sure he has off work.

"Bella, what about you?"

"Ok." Though honestly baseball bores me and reminds me too much of Phil. However, I couldn't disappoint Edward.

"Sit tight." He says and runs out the door, I'm guessing to get the tickets.

"Where is the game?" Charlie asks Emmett.

"Port Angeles." Charlie nods, looking back at the TV.

Edward comes in cuddling this ball of white fluff to his chest. He smiles and walks over to me; kneeling down in front of me he gently places it on my lap.

"She's for you; she'll only get a little bit bigger." I look down and realize it's a puppy. A sweet beautiful ball of white fluffy puppy.

"Me?" Is all I can say.

"Yes, you." He laughs gently, "It's a thank you for going with us and also a homecoming gift. Your home now, Bella Swan." He pats my knee and I look in his warm green eyes, the puppy whines and I lift her up.

"Can I keep her?" I ask Charlie, who is grinning like a crazy.

"Yep, Edward already told me he was getting her for you."

"Thank you." A tear slips down my cheek.

"What are you going to name her?" Emmett asks.

"Noel." I whisper pulling her close. Every year I always wished for a puppy, or kitty at Christmas and birthdays. I always said for a boy it would be Bingley and a girl would be Noel.

"I think she likes her name." Edward says as the puppy starts licking my fingers.

I cuddled with my new baby and promised her I would never let her get hurt, or feel alone. I made a mental note to go to the library and get books on puppy care. Oh and I have the internet. Google, I can search about puppies!

"Can she sleep in my bed?" I ask Charlie. He nods.

"Yep." He looks at Emmett, "Em, shoot! I almost forgot, run up stairs on my dresser there is a box, bring it down, son? Please." Emmett takes off and Edward and I sit there petting my baby.

Before long, Emmett is back with a box that Charlie motions that it's for me. Inside was a pink collar, a pink puppy harness and leash set. A cute pink and white feeder and some puppy food. Charlie had done this for me. I set Noel on Edward's lap and rush over to Charlie. I spontaneously throw my arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you, Charlie." I say softly into his ear.

"You're welcome, baby girl." His voice is husky and when I pull away I notice his eyes look a little wet. I walk over and pull Edward into a quick hug as well.

"Thank you, so much." He nods.

"What no love for me? I ran up the stairs." Emmett complains, I also give him a quick hug.

Not long after the hug-fest, I took my baby upstairs to show her our room. We slept together peacefully that night. I had never been happier and my guard slipped gently down. How was I to know that I should have wished to keep it up? That the peace I was coming to love would quickly be ripped out of my grasp.

**AN2: Reviews equal motivated writer equals quicker updates ;) **

**Picture of Noel going up on the blog :), remember I post teasers on there and if you're looking for some boring fun, follow me on the twitter ;) **

**Also if you're a fan of my story (if you haven't read it why not do it now? lol) Tempting Bella, it has been cleaned up, content added *included an extra sexy time with HotWard*.**


	9. Chapter 9 Thank you for being a reader

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: ****Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;). ILY BB.**

**_For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at _1-800-799-SAFE(7233).**

**_If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at _1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).**

**Chapter 9**

**Charlie's POV**

For the past three days, Bella and Noel have been inseparable. The sweet puppy and the even sweeter girl went everywhere together. The only time Bella was without the dog was when she was taking a shower or a bath; during that time, Noel would sit outside the bathroom door and wait for her. It was endearing.

I've noticed that Bella has opened up more since Noel has joined our family. She smiles more, calls me Charlie. Oh, God. The first time she called me Charlie, the first time she directly addressed me warmed me from head to toe. I can't wait till the day she calls me 'Dad', I know wishing for Daddy might be too farfetched.

We were all headed to the baseball game tomorrow and I was a little nervous. This would be the first time Bella and Noel would be apart from each other. Bella calls Noel her baby and honestly she reminds me of a mother with a newborn, the way she is with Noel. I remember my darling Hope, the first time she left Emmett, she cried the whole time she was gone. Called the house ten times from pay phones and came home early. I hid a laugh at the memory. Hope, God rest her beautiful soul, was the epitome of motherhood and hated being separated from her baby boy. I just hope my daughter can stand to be away from her puppy.

And I truly hope she enjoys the surprise I'm having put in for her while we're gone that day. Sam Uley and his boys are coming to install a fence in the backyard. Bella had expressed concern over the dog running around in the yard in case she slipped away from her and got lost in the woods. It was a small price to pay if it brings joy to my little girl.

"Dad!" Emmett rushes into the kitchen where I am enjoying my morning cup of coffee.

"Morning, Emmett."

"Hey, I'm going to head over to see Vicky later this morning. I was thinking about bringing Bella, you know short trip without the dog so she is more prepared for a longer separation tomorrow." Ah, so my son has noticed that as well.

"Sounds like a great idea, if you can talk her into it." I give a short laugh.

"Well, I figure Bubba might be a draw for her."

"True." I give a short nod.

Just then Bella walks in with Noel cuddling into her chest. She is cooing sweetly. She gives Emmett and I a big grin and sets Noel on her usual chair. The puppy lays down and watches Bella's every move.

"Is Spanish omelet ok for breakfast?" She asks us. Bella had discovered the recipe sites online and kept giving us new culinary treats. However, she made Spanish omelets at least once a week, they were her favorite.

"Works for me, kiddo." I tell her.

"Only thing better is your pancakes, sis. So, I'm down with it." Emmett says as he picks up Noel. The puppy licks his face and curls into his neck.

"Ok." She says with a sweet smile. Bella washes her hands and gets to work.

"Hey, Bells I'm headed over to Vicky's this afternoon, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" Bella bites her bottom lip and looks thoughtful.

"I don't think Bubba would like Noel. So, we'll have to leave her here." She gives a nod. And Em and I share a look. She decided on her own to leave Noel here, that was good.

"Yeah, you're right we'll leave her here, she probably wouldn't like Bubba much either, he's a big dog and she's just baby." Emmett winks at her.

"Ok." She says. She has been cooking this whole time and the aroma that is filling the kitchen is making my mouth water. When she sets the plate before me my stomach gives an embarrassing grumble.

"Thanks, baby girl." I tell her and she blushes.

"You're welcome." She replies softly.

"Oh, before you and Bella go over to Vicky's," I'm still wondering what Em's relationship with the girl is, "I'm taking Bella to the school. We have to finish getting her registered and Mrs. Cope wants to get her picture for her student ID card." And I want to make sure that they have enough time before schedules to come out to get her in as many classes with Alice as possible.

"Want me to come with?" Emmett offers around a mouth full of omelet. Bella hides a giggle at the sight.

"If you want."

"Sure. I can show Bella around, if Mrs. Cope lets me. Maybe I should get Eddie to meet us there. Mrs. C will do anything for him. She has some cougar crush on him. What is it with girls and Edward, seriously he's a ginger." Emmett laughs and Bella glares a little.

"Ginger?" She asks quietly, but the tone is a tiny bit pissed off.

"It's a term for redheads." Em says, looking a little nervous.

"Edward has _bronze_ hair, not ginger." She says firmly.

"Ok, ok." Em looks at me a little smirk playing on his mouth. He loves to get her going. And Bella has been even more overprotective of Edward since he gave her Noel.

"Charlie, Alice says she is spending the night tonight, is that ok?" Bella looks sweetly at me. While Alice would never ask, she'd just show up, Bella was polite enough to check to make sure it was ok.

"That's fine, sweetheart. Just make sure you both get to sleep at a reasonable hour, we have to leave early for the game tomorrow." She nods.

"Ok."

We finish eating, Bella feeds Noel. Honestly, the dog hates puppy chow. So, Bella did research online and found homemade recipes for puppy food. She made a bunch of it up and froze it in cupcake holders. Every feed time she pulls one out, heats it in the microwave and feeds it to the dog. Noel is one spoiled little puppy.

When it's time to leave, Bella cuddles Noel and promises her that she will be back soon. The pup gets up in the chair Bella has put in front of the window so she can look out. She has this sad face as we are backing out of the driveway. Bella waves as we go and looks so sad.

"She'll be ok, right?" She implores.

"Yes, she'll be fine." Bella gives a small smile and nods again.

"Ok."

~0~

"Charlie! It's wonderful to see you." Edna Cope says as I enter the room. The kids follow in behind me.

"Mrs. Cope, how are you?" I ask politely, trying not to get too close to her and her pinching fingers. Fingers that love to pinch my ass.

"Wonderful, just simply wonderful." She beams. "So, how can I help you today?"

"Well, we'd like to get Bella set up." I did call ahead of time, why she is asking I don't know.

"Ah… and this must be Bella. How are you, dear?" She asks Bella nicely.

"Good. Thank you." Bella says shyly, but very sweetly.

"Well, I got your school records in and your grades are wonderful. How about we get your picture done and then Emmett can take you on a tour of the school, while your Dad gets all this boring paper work done?"

"Ok." Bella says.

"Good, good." Mrs. Cope takes Bella over to the little DMV style camera they use to make the IDs for students and takes her picture. She then hands Bella a map and sends she and Emmett on their way to explore.

"Emmett, don't be gone too long." I warn, "I'm on duty in an hour." He nods and Bella gives another shy smile as they walk away. She is coming out of that shell so nicely.

"Charlie, Bella was in regents' classes, all advanced courses. So, I'm not worried about giving her the usual entrance test. We just have a few issues. First, she is above her grade level in math and science. She has already finished chemistry and biology two. Also, she is in calculus and trig classes. So, I thought maybe putting her in trig two with Emmett, I know it's a senior level class, but I don't want to hold her back."

"No, that works. What about the science?"

"Well, actually Bella is ahead of Emmett in science, so, we can put her in tenth grade science, or I can find and advanced bio for her."

"Does Edward Cullen or Jasper Whitlock have an advanced bio?" Mrs. Cope and the administration have been filled in on a little of Bella's situation. They have agreed to try and help by keeping her around the familiar.

"Edward, Jasper as well as Rosalie Hale have the same advanced bio class. I can fit Bella in it." She smiles and I agree.

"Good."

"Now, the rest of her classes all match up with Alice Cullen, as it was requested. Her lunch is the same period as Alice; and Emmett is in there too."

"Great, thank you so much."

"Well, next year we can just put her the seniors' chem class and maybe level two calculus and senior year she can do AP classes for math and science, that way she isn't held back any."

"Mrs. Cope, I can't thank you enough." She smiles.

"It's nothing, Chief, though if you pay her for grades like you do Emmett, you might need to get a second job, the girl is a straight-A student." I had to laugh, everyone knew about my paying Em for grades. I also felt damn proud that my baby girl was so smart.

**Bella's POV**

After going to the school, which was so much smaller than my old one, Em and I went over to Vicky's house for a couple of hours. I played with Bubba while Vicky and Emmett played video games. They had been too funny threatening to kick each other's asses and Emmett accusing Vicky of cheating when she beat him. It was fun.

Though as fun as it was, I was happy to be home with my baby, Noel my little Maltese teacup. How I love my little puppy. Noel has given me the greatest gift, unconditional love. Even though I feed her and pick up her tiny little poopy droppings, I know she would love me even if I didn't. Emmett likes to joke that I should have named her Shadow, since she is constantly with me. I personally think Noel is the best name for her.

"I'm here!" Alice calls as she comes through the door.

"Alice, have you ever heard of knocking?" Edward complains coming in behind her, carrying her bag. He's such a gentleman.

"Hi." I say coming in the room, cuddling Noel to me. Alice squeals and runs at us.

"She is so adorable, Bella." She gently takes my baby into her arms and Noel graces her with a kiss on the nose.

"Hey, Bella, I'm gonna go set Alice's bag in your room, if that's ok?" I nod.

"Ok." Edward ran up the stairs and I tried to ignore the fact he has the nicest butt I've ever seen.

"So, I'm thinking mani-pedis tonight, so our feet look awesome in flip flops at the game tomorrow." Alice tells me as she sits on the sofa playing with Noel, "and we have to pick out the perfect casual, but cute outfits. We don't want to get too dressed up, it's going to be hot and humid. Not conducive to being dressed up." She keeps talking and I'm starting to wonder if she is actually just talking to herself.

"Ok." I say simply, so she doesn't think I'm ignoring her.

Edward comes down the stairs, gives me a wink and walks over taking Noel from Alice, who huffs at him. He gives her a cuddle.

"Hello, sweet Noel, is Alice talking your little head off?" My sweet girl starts licking his face in earnest and he gives a chuckle.

"Edward Anthony, Noel loves when her Auntie Alice talks to her." Alice pouts.

"Auntie Alice?" He laughs as he asks this.

"Yes, Auntie Alice, Bella is my bff, we are like sisters, therefore I am the Aunt." He looks at me.

"She can be the Aunt if she wants to." I say softly. If it makes Alice happy I'm fine with it.

"See?" Alice taunts him and he musses up her hair.

"Ok, squirt, you can be the dog's Auntie." I hide a chuckle.

"I have to start dinner. Umm… did you want to stay?" I ask Edward shyly. Hoping he'll say 'yes'. I love spending time with Edward. He calms me and makes me feel so safe.

"Yeah." He agrees with a smile. "What are we having?" He channels Emmett with the hungry man look he has going on.

"Homemade calzones and cheesy breadsticks."

"Sounds awesome, Bella." He groans. "Next to Mom, you're my favorite cook." He winks and I feel giddy.

"Want help?" Alice offers. I've learned the hard way not to let Alice near the kitchen. By hard way, I mean she almost caught the kitchen on fire.

"Umm, want to set the table?" I don't want to hurt her feelings by saying an outright 'no'.

"Cool." She smiles and runs for the kitchen. Edward and I begin walking towards the kitchen at a slower pace, Noel held in his strong arms.

"You're learning, Mom does that too." Edward jokes, "Mom let her make mac and cheese one night. We called it cheese noodle soup." I giggle. "Where's Em?"

"Jasper needed help with his car, he'll be back soon." I tell him.

We get into the kitchen. I listen to Alice and Edward do their cute sibling taunting back and forth. You can feel their love for one another. If I'm honest with myself, I am jealous of their easy bond. I'd love to feel comfortable enough with Emmett, hell, with myself even… to just let go and pick on him. There are so many opportunities to do it too. Emmett is such a big goofball. I'm terrified though of opening my mouth and offending him in some way. Or making Charlie mad. I don't want them to send me away. I really love it here.

"Smells awesome in here!" Emmett says in his extremely loud voice coming in with Jasper behind him.

"It does smell really great." Jasper agrees. I swear Alice gave a little sigh.

"It'll be done in about ten minutes." Alice informs them looking at the timer.

"We come bearing movies!" Emmett tosses the bag of movies on the counter. Alice goes through them and squeals when she gets to one.

"I love you, Em!" She jumps in his arms and it is so amusing to see Alice's tiny body being wrapped around his huge one, "Bella, he got us Dusk! Yummy."

"Well, I figure you two girls are going to sit through a baseball game, the least we can do is watch some teen vampire romance movie. And listen to Ali talk about the lead guy, Masen Pattz. What was it you said jaw porn?" Alice blushes.

"Maybe." I giggle.

"Cheesy bread? Bella, if you weren't my sister I'd marry you." Emmett laughed giving me a small one armed awkward hug, Alice was still hanging on him.

"Umm… _thanks_?" I say not sure what response is appropriate.

"Welcome." He grins. Everyone just laughs at the goofball that is my big brother.

~0~

Last night we had all sat around watching movies, eating pizza and then ice cream. I have to say it was probably one of the best nights of my life. For a few hours, I felt like a real teenager with a bunch of friends just hanging out. And I loved it. I loved feeling like I belong, instead of feeling like I'm on the outside looking in.

"Bella, capris or shorts?" Alice calls from my closet. She's helping me pick out what to wear today. She looks so cute in her denim shorts and purple top.

"Capris." I don't really want the world to see all my scars.

"How about this outfit?" She pulls out a brown shirt with cute cut out design and khaki capris. I like it.

"Ok."

I get dressed quickly and Alice helps me to French braid my hair. She also helps me put on light mascara and a clear lip gloss. She claims any more makeup and it will just melt off in the heat and humidity. Of course my idea that I could go without was met with horror. No makeup is a naked face; and nude faces are just wrong. According to Alice. Though after watching Star Wars with the boys, I'm starting to think of her as the 'Yoda of fashion'.

We broke up to ride to the game, I was in Edward's car with Alice Emmett, and Jasper, while the adults rode in what I am told is the Mercedes. The trip to the field in Port Angeles goes fairly quick. We listened to top forty radio to appease Alice and listened to Emmett sing off key with some female singer. Singing about kissing a girl and liking it. While I wasn't a fan of the song, I thought Emmett was hilarious singing along with it.

The marquee read Port Angeles Dynamos vs. Phoenix Rebels. Emmett clapped his hands in an imitation of Alice when she is excited upon seeing the sign. Edward quickly found a parking spot near his father. Tickets were handed out and Charlie made sure Emmett and I had funds to buy junk food and drinks from the concession stand. He informed us that half the fun of going to a live baseball game is eating the junk food. Emmett whole heartedly agreed. Then dragged me over to load up on said junk food.

We made our way to our seats, mine between Charlie and Emmett. I held tight to my box of food, corn dog, cotton candy and a bottle of water. Alice was going on and on about the end of the year carnival that comes through mid August. We were apparently going; and going to have a blast. At least, that is what I was told. Not that I minded, I'd rather have a blast with Alice at some carnival than have my head smacked into the wall by Renee.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for our national anthem." The announcer came over the loud speaker. We did as told and Emmett sang along off key.

Both teams took the field. There were pregame handshakes and good lucks. Soon they went to their separate dug outs and the Rebels were up at bat. Emmett, Edward and Jasper had taken to giving little boos whenever the announcer would say a Rebels' player name as up at bat. They were having a blast. I had to giggle when Emmett did a happy dance when one of the Rebels struck out.

"Now up at bat, Phil Dwyer." While I'm sure they went on about his stats like they did the other players, I stopped paying attention. My breath got stuck in my lungs and the world started spinning around me. Oh God, if he was here… she wasn't far behind. I know this, because she left me in that dank little apartment many times alone to go off with him on some game or another.

"Bella, sweetheart, are you ok?" Charlie was quick to notice my panic attack.

"No." I whisper.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" He pulled me into his side holding me to him. While I'm sure he is just trying to comfort me, it was making my attack worse.

"I need…" I can't think, my mind is racing. Charlie doesn't hesitate; he gets up and takes me with him. Soon, he has me off the bleachers and down near the now empty concession stand area.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Charlie is almost begging me.

"He… I… Oh God." I couldn't say it. What if this had been some kind of cruel joke, let me be happy for a short time then give me back to Renee.

"Baby, girl, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Bella?" Edward came running over. I didn't think. I just ran into his arms. He pulls me tight to his chest. "Hey, baby, what's wrong?" He asks softly. His warm familiar scent calming me slightly.

"Is she ok?" Emmett's voice came just seconds before his hand touches my head, "Bella, are you ok, honey?"

"Well, well, well. I always said you were a little slut." The worst sound in my life. The sound of my Mother's voice.

"Renee, what the hell are you doing here?" Charlie demands.

"Oh, if it isn't saint Charlie." She laughs. "Got any other under-age girls knocked up lately Charlie boy?" She taunts him.

"Renee, you didn't answer my question what are you doing here?"

"Well, Charlie, my daughter is here, why the hell shouldn't I be where she is?"

"Phil." I got out. Edward looks at me his eyebrow raised. I lean up and whisper in his ear, "Her husband is Phil… he was one of the players." Edward nods and keeps staring at Renee.

"Bella, aren't you going to come hug Mommy?" Her venomous voice asks. I shake my head 'no', unable to talk to her. "Isabella Marie, get over her and give Mommy a hug. We don't want your new friends to think ill of you for being a spoiled brat who is unable to show their own mother affection." I go to deny her again. Her face gets the mask, the one I know too well. "Don't make me punish you, Isabella."

I pull gently out of Edward's arms and walk towards Renee. She holds out her arms and pulls me into her hug, her fingernails digging into my back cruelly.

"Stupid little bitch, did you really think they'd want to keep you here. They called to beg me to take you back." She says softly in my ear. "Said all you did was cost them money and whine all the fucking time with your annoying voice."

Oh God, she was back for me. No. God, please no.

"Which one of them are you spreading your legs for now, you little tramp?" She seethes into my ear. "When I get you home, I'm going to punish you for being such a slut. I'll burn the hussy right out of you." Oh God, she's going to heat up the knife before she cuts me. That's the worst punishment. Oh God, please don't let me go with her.

"Bella, come over here, baby girl." Charlie calls me and I try to rush to his side.

Renee holds me tight against her, not allowing me the freedom to go to my Father. I vaguely notice that Emmett is no longer there and that Edward has backed further away messing with his cell phone. My life is falling apart and my brother leaves me and Edward plays with his phone? I really did mean nothing to these people. It was all just some cruel joke. I'm going to be stuck going back to Renee, oh my baby Noel, what is going to happen to her?

"I don't think so, Charlie. You're the one who said you didn't think she was actually yours. That you didn't want to have a child with me." She taunts. "And we both know you don't want her now. I think it's time for Isabella to come home with her Mommy." He didn't think I was his? He didn't really want me?

"Renee, don't twist words that were said sixteen years ago to fulfill your needs now. Bella, come here." I pull out of her arms and try to go stand behind Charlie. Renee had other ideas though.

Roughly, she jerks my arm pulling me towards her, my body jerks and I trip going backwards landing on my butt. My hand landed behind me trying to brace me and it burns now from the scratches the asphalt and rocks have inflicted upon it.

"Get your lazy ass up, Isabella. God, you're a clumsy twit." She reaches quickly smacks me across the face. I'm embarrassed that these new people in my life have to see this, but I'm also mad that they are letting it happen. "Get up before I teach you a lesson. Clearly being here has made you soft, Isabella." I hear a soft cough that semi registers in my head.

"Did you get that, Edward?" Charlie asks.

"All of it, Charlie." Edward answers. I'm then jerked back into Edward's warm arms.

"Frank, I see Emmett found you." Charlie smiles at this Frank, who I didn't even notice coming up.

"Charlie, glad I made it in time." This Frank looks at Renee, whom I'm watching. I'm worried that she is going to pull me back to her, however she is looking at Frank in horror.

"Baby, are you ok?" Edward whispers in my ear and I give a short nod. _What the heck is going on?_

"Ma'am, you are under arrest for assault. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say and do can be held against you in a court of law…" His voice fades away as he walks Renee to the back of a Port Angeles police cruiser.

"Bella, I'm so sorry that we let her do that. Frank Peters, Chief of Police here in Port Angeles was behind us at the game. Emmett slipped off to go get him. And Edward and I decided to stall until he got here. When she grabbed you, Edward began recording it with his cell phone for evidence." He gives an evil grin. "She may have had things against me in the past, but this time there is no way she can talk herself out of assault charges. It might only put her away for a short time, but maybe it will be enough to keep her away from us permanently."

"No!" I yell and then put my hand over my head.

"Bella, I know she is your Mother but she is an evil woman." Charlie looks shocked.

"No, I mean, 'no'! If she goes to jail and I have to go back, I'm going to be stuck with Phil." I say in a much quieter tone.

"Bella, my sweet little girl." He says coming over and pulling me to him. "Don't you know that you are never going back there? Now, that I have you, I'm never letting you go." Tears began spilling down my face. "You're my daughter, Bella and I love you just as much as I love Emmett. Always, baby girl." I clung to Charlie Swan, in the parking lot where I just was assaulted by my Mother who had never shown me a moment's affection in my life. My hands hurt, I was still scared that Renee was going to cause us some problem or break up the happy world that I had built here with these people in Forks. And even though I was scared this was all some big elaborate joke that was going to come crashing down around me, I was happy. I was happy because for the first time in my life, a parent told me they love me.

**AN2: Reviews are the biggest inspiration! **

**Also it does look like Casualties of Desire is going to go on hiatus, until mid-May I'm very disappointed with the response the story has been getting. I might even pull it to either rework it or just plain forget about it. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;). ILY BB. **

**_For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at _****1-800-799-SAFE(7233).**

**_If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at _****1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).**

**Chapter 10**

**B POV**

Dr. Cullen cleaned up my scrapes and made sure that I was physically ok. Then they hit me with the news that we had to go to the police station and file a report to press charges. Charlie promised not to leave my side.

While all this was going on, Esme tried to get Alice, Edward, Emmett and Jasper to head back to Forks. I couldn't blame her for not wanting them to be stuck hanging around a police station and possibly Renee's toxic self. Edward refused stating that he was a witness. The others also had declined to leave. I was now in the back of Carlisle Cullen's SUV with Charlie sitting beside me. He has yet to let me out of his sight.

I could see him struggling with wanting to say something, but I was a little worried it would be something along the lines of, 'Sorry, you are too much trouble, I'm just going to give you back to Renee'. I know he and I had shared a tender moment at the ball field, but Renee had moments where she would be nice to me and then turn on me the next minute. And while Charlie has never treated me or led me to believe that he would treat me the way Renee did, I still worried that one day _that_ other shoe will fall.

"We're here." Esme says softly and Charlie grunts a little.

We make a slow progression into the Port Angeles police station. Alice is clinging on to Dr. Cullen for dear life. I feel bad for Alice, she has been sheltered and pampered her whole life and she is suddenly thrust into my world and sees that everything is not always pretty and light. She will, somehow, have to come to terms with this alternate reality; and I hope it doesn't tarnish the natural exuberance that makes up who Alice is. She has been nothing but kind to me and I'd hate to be the cause for her to change or hurt her in any way.

"Charlie, over here." The man, Charlie called 'Frank' at the field, calls him over. Charlie takes my hand and leads me over there.

"Frank, got the paper work ready?" Charlie says after shaking the man's hand.

"Yep, assault on a minor child and after reviewing Edward's little video tape, I think _maybe_ tacking on attempted kidnapping, since she kept trying to call the child to her and holding her from returning to you. She also informed Bella that she wanted her to go with Mommy. And since you informed me the Mother has no legal right to take the child, or ask for her, well, I figure the charge of attempted kidnapping isn't so farfetched. DA agrees with me, after seeing the tape and talking to Mrs. Dwyer. Real piece of work that woman is." Frank shakes his head.

"We're talking three to ten depending on the judge and jury with these charges." A tall thin man comes out and gives me a small smile.

"Alistair, how are you?" Charlie stands and shakes the guy's hand.

"Good. And hopefully, soon you and your daughter will be as well. I had my clerk pull the custody papers you filed for Isabella. Clear cut really. I've also taken the liberty of filing a restraining order in case Renee makes bail, to keep her away from Bella. Though the arraignment is in the morning and I think I have enough proof to show she is at flight risk. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Hey, Al." Dr. Cullen says coming over.

"Carlisle." Alistair smiles.

"I attended to Bella's wounds that were inflicted by Renee this evening if you need me to testify, just say the word."

"Thank you, Carlisle. Oh and I sent that information to the Boston district attorney's office that you forwarded to me. That clinic should be under investigation soon."

"Thanks, Al, I would have given it to Thomas in Forks, but the man is a gossip; and I'd hate for that information to be made public." Alistair nods.

"I agree."

While Dr. Cullen and Alistair had been talking, Charlie and Frank had finished filling out paperwork. I hadn't paid much attention to them, I was more interested in what this Alistair had to say. Did he really mean Renee was going to jail for three to ten months? A commotion in the lobby pulled my attention away from thoughts of Renee in jail.

"What do you mean no bail has been set yet? Where the hell is my wife?" Oh God, I knew that voice too well. Phil was here. A faint reply could be heard and then Phil starts again, "I don't give a flying fuck about procedure. Where the fuck is my wife?" He screams in his harsh, cruel voice. A chill races down my spine.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Frank asks to no one in particular.

"Phil." I answer quietly.

"What was that, sweetheart?" Charlie asks me gently.

"Phil, Renee's husband." I respond a little bit louder than before.

The men, who had just seconds ago been calmly talking like old friends, all shared looks and took off to the lobby. I followed slowly behind them. My body filled with fear and trepidation at the thought of seeing Phil, being this close to him again.

When we got out there, Phil was yelling at the woman behind the desk, she was holding her own though telling him there was nothing she could do. My peripheral vision caught Edward, Emmett and Jasper standing in front of Esme and Alice. They looked like those guards you see outside Buckingham palace, only minus the red uniforms and big hats. They were unflinching and intimidating.

"Bella, go sit with Alice and Esme." Dr. Cullen says softly into my ear.

I moved from behind Charlie to go over to where the others are. As if in slow motion, Phil's head whips around. His eyes bulge slightly when he notices me. He licks his bottom lip and his face goes almost purple. It was so red at this point. He takes a step towards me, then shakes his head when he looks at the other people in the room.

"I should have known your worthless ass had something to do with this." He sneers. "Don't you think you caused enough problems? You stupid little bitch, you really don't think anyone is going to believe you, do you?" He taunts me.

"Enough." Charlie says in a cold voice, "I suggest you keep your snide comments to yourself and away from my daughter."

"Like you give a shit about her." Phil laughs, "though maybe from what Ren told me about you, you have another purpose for keeping the little slut happy?" He gives Charlie a knowing look. Charlie went to lunge at Phil but Carlisle held him back and Frank steps in front of him.

"Your wife's arraignment is in the morning, I suggest you leave and come back then, unless you'd like to sleep in one of our 'oh-so-comfortable' cells this evening for disturbing the peace?" Frank informs Phil who glares.

"What fucking time?"

"Language." Frank says. "Nine am. If you step in here a moment before, I'll personally show you to a cell."

"Fine!" Phil glares at me one more time before storming out.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" Esme asks pulling me into her side. It's warm and loving and everything like I always dreamed a mother's touch should be. Everything I'd never known.

"Bella, you know what he said isn't true." Charlie comes over and something overtakes me and I throw myself into his arms. He holds me tight and I start crying silent tears. I'm overwhelmed by the events of this day. The precarious hold that I've had on my emotions has finally slipped. "Shh, it's ok, baby girl." There is some mumbling and shifting around before everything becomes hazy.

The next thing I know, I'm curled up in the back of the Cullen's SUV next to Charlie, who is lightly stroking my hair. My eyes are burning from crying. I feel spent and achy. I haven't really cried in so long, that it has taken a toll on my body. Along with all of that, I really need a tissue for my clogged up nose. Ugh! I hate crying.

We soon pull into Charlie's driveway, he gently picks me up and carries me up to my room. Even though I try to protest that I can walk, he says he doesn't want me to pass out again. Esme soon enters my room and helps me change and gets me into bed. She lightly tucks me in, kisses my forehead and whispers goodnight.

It was all so sweet and caring more than I'm used to, more than I've ever known. And though I'm tired, I can't sleep, something is wrong. I know Renee is in jail at least till morning. I don't think Phil will do anything. He's always been all talk and he'd let Renee do the actual 'doing'.

"Hey, kiddo, rough night?" Emmett says coming into my room with a knock.

"I'm sorry." I apologize for the horror that is my Mother and her husband.

"Hey now, none of that." He pushes aside my apology, "I just wondered if you'd mind some company, in the form of this little lady who has been sitting outside your bedroom door." He opens the door further and Noel rushes in. I pull her to me and she licks my face.

"Thank you."

"Bella, don't worry, kid, those people aren't going to hurt you again, ok? You belong here, with us. Dad says he wants to explain some things to you tomorrow. Maybe they will help to reassure you that you belong here. That you don't have to worry." He tells me with a smile. He leans over and kisses my forehead much the same way as Esme had. Noel jumps at him and licks his face. He laughs and pets her gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." I whisper.

"Ok, know I'm here, if you need me." He gets up and walks to the door. "Night, Bells." Gently he shuts it behind him. Noel curls into my side and I fall into a restless sleep.

**Charlie POV**

Who would ever dream that a simple trip to a baseball game could turn into hell on earth? God, when I think of what Renee and Phil had said to Bella it made me want to pull out my gun and hunt them both down. I felt like shit in the parking lot letting that nasty piece of work touch and talk to my daughter like that, but I knew that proof of abuse or an attack was needed to get her arrested. I might not have been able in the past to do anything, but that little video was something she couldn't throw in my face. She couldn't blackmail her way out of this one. As for her minor league baseball playing husband, he'd better watch himself. I know enough places out of the rez to hide a body where it would never be found again.

"Morning, Dad." Emmett says coming in the kitchen.

"Son." I greet with a half smile.

"Bella and Noel were still sleeping, so I let her be. I hope that's ok?" He asks.

"Yeah, I don't think she slept that well last night, so a good sleep in is probably what she needs. I need to head into work and I want to call up to Frank's and see how the arraignment went. What are your plans for the day?"

"Hang out here, work on the jeep. Maybe play some video games. You know same ol', same ol'. God, I love the lazy hazy days of summer vacation." He grins.

"Enjoy them now, one day you won't have three months of slothful living to enjoy."

"Haha." He laughs sarcastically. "Just for that, I'm becoming a teacher and keeping my summer vacation."

"Nobel profession, son. If that is your choice, I'd be proud of you. Of course, I'll be proud of you no matter what job you pick." I say honestly. Of course, Emmett being Emmett has to make a joke out of it.

"Even if I become a porn star?" He asks wagging his eyebrows.

"Well, son, as long as you're the best porn star you can be, I will be proud of you. But don't expect me to brag about it at the church luncheons." I say in a mock serious voice. He about falls out of his chair laughing.

"Dad, I assure you I would be the best damn porn star ever. However, I am leaning towards college and getting a job that requires clothing."

"Good idea, Em." I laugh and smack him gently on the left shoulder. "Now, I need to get to work. Do me a favor and keep an ear out for your sister." He nods.

"Will do." I smile and remind him that my cell is always on before heading off to work. Gotta keep Forks safe from the rampant crime, I laugh sarcastically to myself.

~0~

"Chief, there is a call on line two for you." Nancy the morning office assistant informs me.

"Chief Swan speaking?" I say in my official sounding voice into the phone.

"Charlie, it's Frank."

"Ahh, just the man I was getting ready to call. So, Frank, got any good news for me?"

"Well, I would call it _good_ news." Frank gives a gruff laugh, "Renee Dwyer is being held _without_ bail because she is being perceived at flight risk. With the assault and attempted kidnapping charges, the judge didn't want to risk her not showing up for the trial date. Oh, and she called the judge 'a fucking imbecile', which really didn't help her case. Kind of pissed old Wally off." Ah, she pulled the Honorable Walter Evans. Tough judge, started out as a lawyer working child advocacy cases.

"Good. Any idea when the case is going to be on the docket?"

"Well, Wally wanted to get it up by the end of August but Renee's attorney complained that wouldn't be enough time for her to put together a solid defense. So, we are set to go to court first week of September. Luckily, the Port Angeles court system isn't over loaded with cases, so, we can have a speedy trial date."

"I just hope Bella is up for testifying against Renee." I voice my inner thoughts out loud.

"Don't worry, Charlie, if it comes down to it we can have Al file some fancy paperwork, so Bella can just testify on tape or something."

"True. I should probably call Carlisle about a therapist for her, in case we need medical documentation. I've been putting it off because Bella has been doing so well since she got here, I really wanted her to trust us and feel more comfortable with us before going through therapy."

"Charlie, I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe a therapist will help Bella open up even more to you." I nod though he can't see it.

"Ok then, I guess it's time to set her up with a professional."

"Just be there for her, Charlie, it's the best thing you can do." Frank informs me, his voice laden with sincerity.

"Always, Frank, always." I know this is true, because no matter what happens, I will always be there for my baby girl. Even if she gets mad at me about this therapy thing and she pushes me away, I will be there in the background letting her know that she is important and I'd do anything to protect her.

**B POV**

I woke up just after eleven in the morning, stunned. I had never slept that late before in my life. Even when I was sick as a child, Renee had me up before eight am. She said that I had no excuse or reason to sleep in. I had too much work to do whether it was to go to school or clean our meager 'living spaces'. I can't say homes, because we never really had a home.

I move quickly taking a fast shower and getting Noel's meal ready for her. She is so sweet waiting patiently, her tiny face under all that hair seems to be happy and glowing. She eats her food and walks back over to me, asking to be picked up. She likes to be lazy and have me carry her around. I put her harness on to walk out into the back yard so she could relieve herself and stopped cold.

The whole back yard was now fenced. I blink because I'm stunned and not sure I'm really seeing this. But it really is fenced. I let Noel off her lead so she can run around. I have almost all of this month and some of last month's allowance money left, next chance I get, I'm going to buy a toy or two to play with her in the backyard with. Maybe a soft ball would be nice, or a squishy little bone she can play fetch with.

Noel stands there looking at me and I have to laugh internally, she doesn't realize she is free to roam. I take off in a slow run around the yard and she follows. My ever faithful baby, keeping pace with me as best as she could with her little legs. I slow even more and I swear her eyes flash with gratitude.

"Bells?" Emmett calls from the doorway.

"Hi." I say acknowledging him.

"I need to run over to Jasper's house for about a half an hour. Do you want to come with?" I think for a moment and I know I'd really enjoy having a few moments alone.

"Can I stay here?" I'm not sure I'm actually allowed to be in the house alone, I haven't been left alone since I got here.

"Sure, you got your cell with all our numbers programmed. Call me if you need me, I can be back in like five minutes flat." He smiles and I smile back.

"Ok."

"See you soon." I wave as he leaves.

I bring Noel back inside for some water and a puppy treat. She accepts both then runs her little self into the living room and barks at the TV. My poor baby is addicted to the television. She is barking to let me know it is off and she wants it on. And being the over indulgent puppy-mommy that I am, I turn the TV on to Animal Planet and watch the funny animal video show with Noel curled in my lap.

I wonder at my light mood. After being humiliated and attacked by my Mother yesterday, you would think I'd be curled up in a ball crying right now. Only I'm not. It's freeing to know that I no longer have to hide the bruises that Renee inflicts. Charlie saw for himself the way she talks to me, the way she jerks me around. And instead of being utterly repulsed and banishing me, he had her tossed in jail.

Renee in jail.

God, how I hope she doesn't get out for awhile. How do I feel about the prospect of living life, knowing she was safely behind bars instead of free to come after me? It was amazing and like a dream come true.

"Yap, yap, yap." Noel's little yapping bark pulled me out of my thoughts. Her little body is tense and she doesn't look like her usual happy self.

Why is she barking at me? I wonder what I did to upset her, but then I realize it's not me she is barking at. It is something behind me that has her attention. Did Emmett come back in while I was zoned in my own little world? Why would she be so tense about Emmett though? Slowly, I turn to see the menacing face of Phil Dwyer.

"Did you really think I'd let your ass get away with tossing my wife in jail?" He laughs harshly. "You've already gotten away from me once, sweet innocent Bella. Now, I will make you pay. You will pay for Renee being in jail, pay for thinking you can leave me and you will pay with that tight, sweet little body of yours."

I gasp and jump off the sofa, almost falling over the chest beside it. Front door or stairs? I need to run.

Think quick, Bella!

Stairs, my cell phone is upstairs and I can lock the door. Phil advances on me and is just a step away, his hand reaching out to me, quickly I grab Emmett's empty cup off the table and throw it hard at Phil's face. He wasn't expecting me to do that and glass shatters on his face. He screams in pain. I pick up Noel and rush up the stairs. I slam Emmett and Charlie's doors shut so it's not easy to determine which room I'm in. I shut mine as well, then lock it and take Noel and my phone into the closet. Sitting up against the door, I dial the first number I can think of.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"Phil, he's here." I whisper yell into the phone.

"Holy shit!" I hear some rustling noises and talking, "I'll be there in just a couple of minutes. Don't worry."

"Ok." I say in a hushed tone, I'm trying to be as quiet as possible and I'm hoping Noel will be as well.

"Jazz, call Dad at the station." Emmett asks me. "Where are you?"

"I… umm… my closet, Phil is in the house." I mutter.

"Ok, baby sis, stay quiet, I'm half way there already. Jazz has Dad on his phone; he's on his way there with some deputies."

I hear the door break open and I press even harder against my closet door, praying that Emmett gets here before Phil can get into my closet. I pick up one of the high heel shoes Alice has added to my wardrobe, thankful for the first time for the pointy six inches. I swear, with enough force this would have to hurt.

"Little Bella, come out, come out where ever you are." Phil calls in a taunting tone.

"Stay there and quiet, Bells." Emmett says into the phone.

I didn't answer him, afraid that even the slightest noise would alert Phil to my hiding spot. I pull Noel closer to me. I hope and pray that she will stay silent. If he catches me, I hate to think what he'll do to my baby.

"Bella, are you in there, you little bitch?" Phil coos. His tone sweet; his words not, "you know with Ren gone, I'm going to need someone to keep me warm and happy at night. And since you're the reason I no longer have my wife, you can take her place." He says in a conversational tone. "Now get your ass out of there!" He demands, his tone harsh and completely contradictory to how he had been sounding. I have to hold tight to the scared whimper that wants to escape me.

The door rattles under the force Phil is using to push it open. Noel is now growling as fiercely as she can trying her best to be intimidating and in other circumstances, I would find it adorable. But right now, I can only think of trying to get out of here alive. I gasp for air, panic is taking over. I somehow have disconnected the phone. I've lost the call to Emmett, my only line to safety. My body is shaking with fear and with the vibrations from the rattling door.

"Bella, don't be stupid, little girl. The quicker you get out of there, the less angry I will be at you." Phil is trying to reason with me. Ha! Like I'm really going to go out there with him, "Bella, Bella, Bella… don't you know you can't hide from me? Don't be the stupid little bitch that your Mother always claimed you to be, open the fucking door!" He demands.

The door rattles some more then suddenly it gets quiet. I know he hasn't left and I'm not dumb, I know not to open up the door to see where he is. All of a sudden a loud smash came from above me and I look up to see Phil's face leaning in threw a hole that has been punched into the door. I can't fight back the loud scream that emits from me.

"Aww, little Bella, did you really think you'd win?" His hand reaches in and he grabs my ponytail jerking on it. Noel jumps to my defense, biting down hard on his hand with her tiny sharp teeth. "Son of a fucking bitch!" Phil roars and tosses Noel off of his hand. She lands with a thump and a whine against the wall of the closet. I pull forward to go to pick her up and he pulls my head back, my hair wrapped around his hand.

"Please, let me go to her." I beg.

Phil swings the door open now that he has control. Pulling me up and slamming me into the wall as well. I look up into his almost black eyes and scream again. He slams his hand over my mouth and gives a wicked grin.

"I don't think so, bitch." Panic takes over and I feel like my breathing has stopped. Then my world goes black.

**AN2: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! And remember reviews let you know what happens a lot quicker, seeing as I have already started the chapter ;0) Reviews are the biggest inspiration! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;). ILY BB. **

**_For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at _****1-800-799-SAFE(7233).**

**_If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at _****1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).**

**Chapter 11**

**Emmett's POV**

After asking Bella if she wanted to come with me to Jasper's and having her turn me down; I said goodbye, locked the front door and headed out to Jasper's house. I felt a little bad about leaving Bella at home alone, but she is almost sixteen and I knew that at that age, I was home alone _a lot_. I also figured that she might enjoy a few minutes of privacy. Something she has had little of since she has come into our lives. I have no idea yet how much she had at Renee's, but with her fear of her mother, that maybe privacy was probably tainted. I had visions of Bella sitting in a corner, watching the door for the wicked bitch to come back home, scared to move. A few minutes of safe, quiet alone time will be good for her.

"Dude, you made it." Jasper greets and I smile.

"Hell, yeah, I know your Dad and Mom are in need of these guns." I flex my arms and he groans then leads me to the garage.

Jasper and I had promised to help his Dad today with moving some heavy things for his Mom. Of course, bribery was involved, I'm working for some homemade double fudge brownies… _correction_… that would be, kick-ass homemade goodness that melts in the mouth and never in my hands. Maybe that is because they are not in my hands long enough to melt.

"Hey, man, why didn't Bella come?" Jasper asks.

"I asked, but she just wanted to chill out with Noel at the house. I think she mainly didn't want to leave Noel alone." I smile. My baby sister loves that dog, "Plus, some quiet alone time was probably needed."

"Do you think it's a good idea? I mean, she just dealt with Mommy dearest yesterday?"

"Shit, I don't know, Jasper, I'm only going to be here for a few more minutes. I told her to call if she needs me though." I hadn't thought of that and I was starting to rethink my stance on alone time. After shit like that going down, maybe she needed me nearby. _Maybe I'll take her and Noel to get some ice cream after I'm done to make up for my stupidity. _I thought.

"Boys, would you like some lemonade?" _Brenda, I think I love you._

"Yes, Momma Whitlock." I smile. Brenda Whitlock makes homemade lemonade. Freshly squeezed, deep south lemonade. Damn good shit.

"Sounds great, Mom." Jasper agrees.

We are gulping down the lemon nectar of the Gods, when my cell rings. Vicky.

"Hey?" I answer.

"_Hey, Em, Alice called and told me about what happened with Bella; and I just wanted to see if she was ok? And if she needs anything?" Vicky is an awesome friend._

"She seems to be doing ok. I think she is relived that Renee, her bitch of a Mother, is in jail."

"_Cool, let her know if she needs to talk, or just wants some company I'm here, ok?"_

"I will. Thanks for being so great and caring, Vicky."

"_Emmett, your kid sister is a sweet, lovable girl who has had the shity end of the stick way too long. Only a cold-ass bitch wouldn't care." _She says seriously_, "I gotta go, I'm helping Mom mow the lawn, it's Dad's birthday and we wanted to give him the week off."_

"Ok, talk at you later." I smile and we hang up.

"So what's the deal with you and red?" Jasper asks casually.

"Friends." I say honestly.

"Really, Emmett, your just friends with a girl that hot?" He jokes.

"Jazz man, I'm still dealing with the aftermath of Rose. It wouldn't be fair to any woman if I started going out with them right now." Plus there is still a large part of me that loves Rose. And part of me that dreams that the old Rosie, the one who was my best friend as well as my girlfriend, would come back and that this cold shell would disappear as if she never existed.

"Honorable to wait, but, Em, does _Vicky_ know this?" Jasper presses. And before I can answer him my phone sounds off with Bella's ring tone.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I ask, knowing she wouldn't call unless something was wrong.

"Phil, he's here!" She says in a panicked whisper into the phone. The asshole from last night? Renee's husband? Holy shit!

"Holy shit!" I point to the car and toss Jazz my keys. We both rush to it and get going towards the house. I try to assure her, "I'll be there in just a couple of minutes. Don't worry."

"Ok." She says timidly, in a hushed tone.

"Jazz, call Dad at the station." I tell Jasper, who immediately get's out his cell to call Dad. I then go back and ask Bella, "Where are you?"

"I… umm… my closet, Phil is in the house." She stutters a little.

"Charlie is on his way with some back up." Jasper lets me know and he dials someone else.

"Ok, baby sis, stay quiet, I'm half way there already. Jazz has Dad on his phone; he's on his way there with some deputies." I try to calm her, letting her know that the cavalry is on its way. Calm people are less likely to get caught and hurt.

I can hear a faint noise that sounds like a door breaking open, then a taunting male voice calling, "Little Bella, come out, come out where ever you are." I try to control my rage and stay calm for Bella's sake.

"Stay there and be quiet, Bells." I tell her, "Bella, we are almost there, just hold on."

"Carlisle is on his way, too." Jasper lets me know. Good, someone is going to have to piece that son of a fucking bitch back together when I am done with him.

"Bella, did you hear me?" That's when I noticed that the call had disconnected, "Jasper, drive faster, I lost her on the phone."

"Don't worry, we'll get there." He promises and puts the pedal to the floor.

~0~

Jasper wasn't even fully stopped when I jumped from the car and rushed into the house. I ran up the stairs to Bella's room, praying that the fucker hadn't had time to get to her, or cause her any more hurt. I heard him before I even got to the room.

"Wake up, you stupid little bitch. You always have to fuckin' ruin everything. Bella, wake the fuck up!" He was screaming and complaining. "Fuck! It's not going to be any fun if you're unconscious." I burst through her door to find him smacking her face. She was passed out. Half of her on the floor, while the other half was held up and smacked by the asshole. Thankfully, she was still fully-clothed. I'm going to take that as a good sign that she hadn't been raped. He was trying to wake her up, I guess. Not that I took long to access the situation.

"Why don't you mess with someone your own size, fuckhead." I say calmly from the doorway, gaining his attention. He lets Bella drop back down to the floor.

Phil's head snapped around and took in my six foot five muscled frame; and blanched white. I could tell he was trying to figure out how to get around me. Jasper, the wonderful friend that he is, comes in behind me carrying a tire iron.

"I say we show Phil what happens to fuckers who mess with our family." I give a wicked, 'we have you now, asshole', grin.

"I'm with you, brother." Jasper agrees, smiling the same damn way. Phil looks like he's about to piss himself. Then before I get a chance to lunge at him, he gets this gleam in his eyes, laughs and pulls out a gun.

"You didn't really think I'd come unarmed, did ya?" He taunts. _Shit_.

"You didn't think I would, either?" Dad says coming in from behind us with his revolver pulled out. Thank God.

"Ahh… the incompetent Charlie Swan, we meet again." Phil decides to press his luck and insults Dad some more, "I'll give you a choice, your daughter goes with me, or I shoot your son. You always did pick the boy in the past, so, I'm thinking, you'll go that way again."

"I think I'll keep both of my kids, here, alive and well. Put down the gun Phil, don't be stupid." Dad looks down and, then back at Phil, "Phil Dwyer, you are under arrest for breaking and entering, pulling a weapon on a police officer…" Phil cuts Dad's rant off with a laugh. And I have no idea why Dad is even reading him his rights, now is not the time for talking. _Shoot him, Charlie!_

"Renee was right about you, Charlie. I should have known this would be too fucking easy." Phil laughs manically.

"Really?" Charlie says, with a cocky grin, "I'll give you a _choice_ this time. Put down your weapon and live. I don't think you need the other choice explained, it's all as simple as that, Phil."

"How about… I just shoot _you_ instead?" Phil taunts.

"Last chance, Phil." Dad's eyes are getting colder. His voice is harder than I've ever heard it before. Phil brings his weapon up to point at Charlie. I'm trying to calculate if I have enough time and room to jump on Phil and stop him. All of a sudden, Phil screams.

"Fucking! Son of a bitch!" Phil yells at the top of his lungs. And Dad takes the opportunity and shoots Phil who falls backwards with the impact of the bullet. Unfortunately, he still seems to be alive. I look down to assess the situation further and see that _Bella_ is the cause of Phil's screaming.

"You did well, princess." Dad says running to her side. Deputy Mark has come in and taken away Phil's gun; and now is reading him his rights. From the noise coming outside, an ambulance is here. Hopefully, it won't make it in time and Phil will die, the bastard.

"Thank you." Bella whispers wrapping her arms around Charlie, tears streaming down her face.

"Shit, I can't believe she bit his ankle." Jasper says in awe.

"Damn smart little girl I have here." Charlie says proudly pulling Bella up. Bella gives him a tentative smile then her face drops and horror takes over.

"Noel!" Bella yells. "He threw her into the wall." She turns to the shut closet door and opens it. Little Noel is laying there in a ball whining, "Noel?" Bella says softly the pup's head pops up.

"Be careful, Bella, injured dogs can bite even the ones they love the most." Dad warns.

"Noel." She says softly sitting on the ground beside the dog. Noel gets to her little feet and hobbles over to climb on Bella's lap. Bella picks the dog up to her chest and rocks her like a mother would her newborn baby. I couldn't hear what she was saying exactly, but Bella was cooing softly to her puppy.

"You ok, son?"

"Yeah, Dad, I got here maybe a minute before you did. Though, I think Jasper is a little depressed he didn't get to use the tire iron." We both looked at Jasper who was sitting on Bella's bed holding his tire iron, with a slight pout on his face.

"I can't believe she bit him." Jasper says out of the blue.

"I know! It was amazing." I reply.

"Bella is a smart girl." Dad says with pride.

"I… I couldn't let him kill or hurt you because of me." She says hesitantly.

"You did wonderful, sweetheart." Dad assures her.

"Charlie?" Carlisle comes into the room, carrying his little black medical bag, with Edward at his heels. "Is everyone ok?"

"He hurt Noel." Bella tells him, carrying her puppy over to Edward.

"We'll take her to the vet's to get her checked out, ok?" Edward says softly, smiling reassuringly at my sister.

"Ok." She whispers, tears brimming her eyes again.

"Shock..." Carlisle says automatically, just as Bella's slight frame starts shaking.

Edward gently takes Noel out of her arms just as Carlisle takes over. He sits Bella on her bed and talks calmly to her. Her head is shaking badly and body is thrashing wildly. Noel whines from Edward's arms and I feel like my gut is being ripped out. I just want to pick her up, hold her and protect her from every bad thing in the world. I can't help but feel that this Phil-asshole-getting-close-to-her is partially my fault for leaving her alone in the first place. Now, she is going through even more because of him.

"Charlie, I need your permission to give Bella a sedative." Carlisle says gently. Dad has tears in his eyes and has been inching closer to where they are.

"No! No needles! Please, please don't hurt me!" She yells and pulls her legs up to her chest and begins rocking back and forth. Her body is still shaking and tears are still running down her face.

"Charlie?" Carlisle looks at my poor Dad who is torn between knowing Carlisle is right and not wanting to betray Bella's wishes. Dad slowly gives a nod and Carlisle nods back. Carlisle goes to use an alcohol swipe on her arm to disinfect the area before giving her a shot and Bella thrashes, knocking him away. "Bella, calm down, I don't want to have to restrain you." Carlisle uses that really calm doctor's voice of his. I know Bella needs to calm down. She is going to hurt herself, or make herself sick if she doesn't. I walk slowly over and crawl in the bed behind her. As gently as I can, I hold her arm out to Carlisle, holding her as still as I can. He gives me a grim smile and does what he needs to. Bella turns to me with tear-filled eyes.

"Why?" She whispers, accusingly.

"Because, I love you." I whisper back as her eyes start to flutter shut. Emotional exhaustion and drugs lulling her to sleep.

"She should sleep for a couple of hours. I needed to give her a medical exam, but in the state she was in, there was no way I could have." Carlisle explains.

"Mom has guest rooms set up, so you all can come and stay with us." Edward interjects, still holding Noel and looking at Bella's sleeping form, "Jazz, hold Noel for me?" He hands the dog over to Jasper and leaves the room.

"Damn! This is a crime scene we need to close it off." Charlie says, just as Edward comes back in with a damp cloth. He goes over to Bella on the bed and gently wipes the cloth across her face, cleaning up the now drying tears. It was… well, it was _fucking_ sweet. Dad looks at Carlisle who looks at Dad; and they both grin. I wonder what that is about. "We need to clear the room. Mark will also need to interview all of you. I can't do it, because it would be a conflict of interest." He explains.

Before I even have the chance to do it myself, Edward picks Bella up and carries her, bridal style, out of the room. Well, damn! Jasper on the hand, places Noel in my arms and picks his tire iron back up.

"What? I don't want it to end up in police evidence, what if I get a flat tire?" I give a short laugh and go downstairs.

**Edward's POV (is going to jump around, so it's not the same thing all over again)**

"Dad, I don't want to drive Alice to Seattle for her 'back to school' shopping, I don't mind riding along, but can't you or Mom come with us? Alice in a mall scares me."

Dad and I are in his office at the hospital. I stopped by with his lunch. And also, to whine about the fact that Alice wants me to take her and Bella to Seattle for shopping. I don't mind going along, I just don't want to go without parental supervision. I don't want to misplace one of them, or be completely responsible for two sixteen year old girls in a shopping mall. I still have issues from the one time I was charge of Alice in the past. I lost Alice at the county fair about four years ago. It was the first and last time I babysat Alice in public. It took an hour to find her. Scariest hour of my life.

Plus, as I said, Alice in a mall scares me.

"I'm sure your Mother would love to go, Edward." Dad assures me. "Hold on, I need to take this call." He takes his vibrating phone out of his pocket and answers politely. "Hello?"

I walk over to the bookshelf to give him some privacy in case it is a patient. I don't want to violate anyone's right of privacy. Instead, I'm looking at Dad's medical journals, wondering if this is the path I should take. I'm really not sure yet.

"Edward, we have to go to the Swan's. Renee's husband Phil has broken in and has Bella. Charlie and Emmett are on their way there." I didn't stop to ask questions, I ran out of the hospital at full speed and rushed to the Volvo.

I drove like a madman, sure that Charlie would help me get out of any tickets that could come from this, if not, I can afford to pay it. I just had to get to Bella, the thought of her getting hurt or being in pain in any way is almost enough to bring me to my knees. Pulling up, I shot past the ambulance that was parked at the front and the two cops that were there.

"Kid, you can't go in there." Josh Green, a newbie cop and former Forks High track star yells at me.

"I'm going in." I inform him. A loud bang sounded from the house, gunshot. Shit! This cannot be good.

"Edward." My Dad calls, he had just got there and was putting his hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

"The Chief and Mark are in there right now, don't worry." Deputy Adams, an older gentleman who was reaching retirement age, lets us know.

"Get your fucking hands off me." The voice was that of the arrogant asshole from last night. Phil.

Without thinking, I rushed forward and slammed my fist into his nose, you could hear the crunch. If felt so damn good to do. I then slammed my fist into his stomach; he doubled over and screamed in pain, landing on his knees and his head bent over. That's when I noticed the blood. Blood that wasn't coming from his now broken nose.

"Edward, back off." Mark tells me, "Carlisle, do you want to take a look at him, Charlie had to shoot him. He pulled a gun on him." Dad, who is generally the most compassionate man I know, looks at the piece of shit in front of us and shakes his head in negative.

"The ambulance is right there, the medics can do their job. I can't touch him. I don't feel like getting sued for malpractice, because this man feels I didn't do a good enough job, due to my connections with the Swan family." Nice one Dad. Dad goes inside the house and before I follow, knowing no one is going to stop me now, I take a sharp hard kick into Phil's groin. He screams again.

~0~

I wasn't able to watch as Dad sedated Bella. Her tiny form fighting to be free from all of this was really getting to me. I had to fight the urge to pick her up and run with her so that he couldn't use that needle on her. So, I did the one thing I could for her, I went and got a warm cloth to wipe away her tears. Then I carried her out of the house and put her into the back of the Volvo with Noel curled up in the passenger seat beside me. I drove them both to my home. When I got there and had Bella safe with my Mom and Alice, I called the vet and brought Noel in to see her. I knew Bella would want Noel taken care of right away.

"Edward, I didn't know you had a dog." Dr. Meyer says as I come in. She is great friends with Mom, so I understand her shock of thinking that me suddenly having a dog.

"This is Noel, Dr. Meyer. There was an incident that had been handled by Chief Swan, where she was thrown into a wall. I'd like to have her checked out." I didn't know how else to explain Noel's injuries without telling too much of Bella's personal business.

"Ok then, let me get to work." She gave me a smile and did just that.

An hour and a hefty vet fee later, Noel was proclaimed fine. She maybe a little achy I was told, but there were no fractures or broken bones. So, I loaded her back into the Volvo, where she sat in the passenger seat again. When I told her I was taking her to see Bella, I swear she began to look at me adoringly and seemed to glow with happiness, which was cute and weird all at the same time.

"Mom, we're back." I call into the kitchen where I hear my Mom talking. Noel is trotting behind me. She's been to my house before, when I first bought her for Bella, so it's not completely new to her.

"Brenda, I'll call you back, Edward just got home." Mom hangs up the phone and walks over to me. "Hi, honey, how is Noel?" Mom asks with real concern, picking Noel up to give her love.

"Just a little sore, but no real damage done. How is Bella?"

"Still sleeping. Emmett and I put her in Alice's room, so she doesn't wake up in an unfamiliar place."

"Good idea." I pause then ask. "How is Ali taking all of this?" My sister has a tender heart behind the exuberance and happy grin that many people think she never lost. I've heard people refer to her as a cheerleader on speed before. She feels deeply and is very emotional. Alice is that girl who cries at a Hallmark commercial and can't pass a homeless person without putting money in their cup.

"She's ok. She's curled up in the bed with Bella. Last check she was reading." Mom gave a faint smile.

"Where's Em?"

"He and Jasper are in the game room. Charlie and your Father went to the hospital to check on that horrid man Phil." She glares a little. "Mark has already been here to take Jasper's and Emmett's statements. He is going to wait and come back tomorrow to get Bella's, per doctor's orders." Mom cracks a smile at that. Dad is handy to have around at times.

"I'm going to put Noel in with Alice and Bella, then I'm going to join Em and Jazz. If you need me, or hear anything, call me?" She gives me a hug and I squeeze her back, "I love you, Mom." And I do, I am so blessed to have the parents that God graced me with.

"I love you too, Edward, you'll always be my baby boy."

I gave my Mom a few minutes extra of affection, before going and leaving Noel with the sleeping Bella and Alice. Yes, Alice fell asleep with her book still open. Then, I went to hang out with the guys. I figured Emmett could use the moral support. What I didn't expect was the round of applause I received. Dad had shared with my friends, that I had gotten a few good punches in on Phil. And after the little congratulatory pats on my back, we settled in to play Mario Cart. After this shitty day, I think we needed just a little time as normal teens.

**AN2: Remember reviews are love, and get me writing. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Sorry this took so long people, between computer issues and flow issues it took a little while. I hope you like it. Also thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they mean so much to me, and really keep me motivated. I'm sorry I'm utter fail at replying to them, but I am going to work on it I promise. **

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! She rocks so hard, love ya bb!!! **

**BPOV**

I woke up slowly and shook my head slightly. I was just having the craziest dream that Phil showed up at Charlie's house and tried to kill me. God, it felt so real. I hear snoring beside me and look to find Alice and Noel sleeping soundly. I can't decide who is snoring louder Alice or Noel. This of course makes me want to giggle, but I hold it in so as not to wake them. I gently get up to go to the rest room and almost trip over one of Alice's shoes. Getting in the bathroom, I do my little morning ritual of tinkling and then washing my face. I went to brush my teeth but only saw Alice's toothbrush.

Wait, why am I in Alice's bathroom?

Umm, when did I get to Alice's house?

_Breathe, Bella._ I tell myself.

I go back into Alice's room and notice my travel bag the one that Charlie bought me for sleepovers. I looked in it and found my toothbrush and some clean clothes in it, thankfully. I know I need to find answers to why I'm here and how I forgot about coming here, but first things first. Stinky morning breath must go.

Finishing up, I left Noel and Alice to their slumber. They look too peaceful to wake. I just hope someone is up downstairs and that they don't have me put in the hospital for insanity or something. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I can smell coffee and cinnamon.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Esme Cullen smiles at me in greeting, "I'm glad you finally woke up, sweetie." I smile, you can't help but to smile back at Esme Cullen.

"Umm… Mrs. Cul-- I mean, _Esme_," I grimace remembering that she asked me several times to call her by her first name and I always forget, "I hope this doesn't sound like I'm insane or anything, but how did I get here?"

"Oh, Bella, what is the last thing you remember?" She asks hesitantly.

"We went to Port Angeles to see a baseball game, my Mother was there and she umm… well, then we went to the jail and Phil came." I stop I'm trying to decipher in my head between what's real and nightmare material.

"Bella, do you remember Phil showing up at your house yesterday?" She asks gently.

"It wasn't a nightmare?" I ask, my voice barley audible.

"No, sweetie. It was very real. And from what I've heard, you were so brave and you helped save the day." She gives me a quick hug and I feel a little light headed as everything rushes back to me. Noticing that I'm not doing so great, Esme sits me on a chair. "Breathe, Bella." She says gently.

"Where is Charlie? Is he ok?" I ask almost frantically. "Oh my! Emmett and Jasper were there too! Are they ok?"

"Bella, you need to calm down. Everyone is fine. Charlie and Carlisle are at the hospital. Emmett is in the guest bedroom across the hall from Edward. And Jasper went home last night; his Dad came and picked him and his tire iron up." She gives a soft chuckle after saying that part.

"Why is Charlie at the hospital?" What if he was hurt?

"Police business, sweetie. He had to go take a victim's statement, completely unrelated to Phil. However, you should know something. Do you remember that Charlie shot Phil?" I give a slight nod, "Phil started having seizures in the ambulance, by the time they reached the hospital, he needed to be rushed into surgery. It seems the bullet nicked his heart, causing major damage. It's touch and go right now, he may not make it."

Is it wrong that a part of me wanted to stand and do one of Alice's happy dances over this news, while the other part was just taking a deep breath and hoping for the best and planning for the worst? The best being the lifting of Phi's threat from my life… the worst being Phil coming after me again.

"Is Charlie going to be in trouble?" I ask, the thought of Charlie being in trouble or going to jail scares me on so many levels.

"No, Bella. Your Dad is an officer of the law, a well-respected one at that. Phil pulled a gun on him and three minor children, after breaking and entering. Charlie won't be in trouble." She assures me, while putting a glass of ginger ale in front of me. "Drink that up, you need the sugar for shock. And because you've been asleep so long, your sugar levels have to be to low right now."

I automatically take the drink and sip it. It tastes so good on my parched throat that I start guzzling it down, only to end with a tiny belch, which of course makes me blush.

"Excuse me." I say politely. Esme just grins.

"Of course, dear, trust me your brother, Edward and Jasper have all done that before. And little Alice, well, she could out belch them all." I giggle at the thought.

"Morning." Edward says as he comes in, wearing a pair of soft shorts and no shirt, rubbing his belly with one hand and the other hand running through his hair. Oh my God, he is so beautiful.

"Morning." I squeak out.

"Good morning, dear." Esme grins. "Ok, kids, what would you like for breakfast?" She asks sweetly.

"I'd be more than happy to cook." I really don't want to be a bother; and cooking could be a way of helping out. My eyes drift back to Edward's naked chest. I look away quickly, though my blush is even brighter. I had to fight to keep my eyes away from Edward and the weird sensations the sight of his body was causing to my body.

"Thank you, Bella, for offering. But it's my pleasure. How about omelets?" Edward and I agree.

"Would you like any help?" I offer again.

"You can help with the chopping." She smiles and gives me a hug.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Edward asks, coming over to squat in front of me. Which of course doesn't help my quest of not to look at his naked chest.

"Ok. How are you?" He gives a small chuckle.

"A mad man holds you hostage and you are asking how I am? Sweet Bella, you have to be the most selfless person alive." He gently kisses my forehead before sitting down in a chair beside me. The kiss had sent sparks through my body. I blush, then look at Edward with my peripheral vision. Edward had an odd look on his face. He seemed torn and confused all at once.

"Umm… Thanks?" I didn't know how to respond.

"Bella…" Esme however cut him off.

"Bella, do you want to chops the onions or the bell pepper?"

"Onions." I figure taking the onions, I was really helping. No one likes cutting onions.

~0~

After the others woke up and filled their stomachs, Esme told us that a lady from the hospital was coming over to talk to all of us and that Deputy Mark, who works with Charlie, needed to talk with me about what happened.

I sat with Deputy Mark first, he asked basic questions; Did Phil break in? Did he touch me inappropriately? Has he ever sexually molested me? Did he threaten me? Did I see his gun? Which I answered honestly; Yes, he broke in. He has made me uncomfortable with his touch in the past but he hadn't touched me in the no-no areas. No, he's never raped me, but he has threatened it. Yes, he threatened to kill me, many times. Yes, I saw his gun.

After he left, a Ms. Anderson came to ask basically the same questions, but she added in several times 'and how did this make you feel?'. It took all I that had, by the fifth time she asked this, not to say 'how do you think it made me feel, lady? Stressed, angry, upset, worried. But those are things I'm used to'. I also felt guilty that I brought the craziness of Renee and Phil into the Cullen's, Jasper's, Charlie and Emmett's lives. She told me that the guilt was normal, but that I shouldn't feel it. She explained that Renee and Phil's actions were not my fault and that I was as much a victim of their craziness as the others. She also tried to get me to agree to meet with her once a week to talk about my feelings. I politely declined. I know therapists cost money, I couldn't afford it and I didn't want Charlie to have to pay for it.

After she left, we sat around watching movies and talking about anything but what happened the day before. That was until Carlisle and Charlie came in. Charlie walked over to where I was sitting between Emmett and Alice on the big sofa and knelt in front of me, much the same that Edward had that morning.

"Bella, how are you?" He asks gently.

"Ok. Are you ok?" He looks so tense.

"I'm fine, princess." He pauses and looks back at Carlisle who nods at him, "Bella, Phil didn't make it. He passed away about an hour ago."

"He's gone?"

"Yes." I felt a surge of emotion come through me. And for the first time in my life, I just couldn't hold back.

"Good." I was free from his threats and he would no longer be able to hurt these people who have kindly taken me into their lives. "You won't get in trouble though, right?" I had to make sure.

"No, I'm not in trouble." He smiles and pulls me into a hug. "There is one more thing though. The police in Port Angeles would like you to testify against Renee when her case comes to trial. While the video evidence will get her convicted, they feel that your testimony would get her the maximum sentence." He looks at me, like he's probing for something I'm hiding. I'm a little confused by his look.

"Ten months, right?" That's such a short time and she'd come after me I know it.

"No, Bella, three to ten years." Years? I'd be an adult by the time she gets out, she wouldn't be able to get custody of me back. She wouldn't be able to take me away from Charlie.

"Ok." I say firmly, "I'll testify."

"Are you sure?" He asks gently.

"Yes."

"I'm so proud of you, princess." He says and squeezes me. It was then that I realized that he was still hugging me. It felt so nice.

"Thank you." I blush.

"When is the trial going to be on the docket, Charlie?" Esme asks.

"After the judge went back and forth with her lawyer and Al, it ended up landing on the first week of September. Al thinks it will only last two days at the most."

"I'll be more than happy to testify as well, Charlie." Edward's warm voice tells Charlie.

"Good, thanks, son."

After that we ate pizza and tried to talk about anything but the coming trial and the death of Phil. I, however, couldn't stop thinking about it. In about a month, I will be facing my Mother and sending her to prison for up to ten years. And I didn't have to worry about Phil showing up and getting retribution in her name. I couldn't help the relief that I felt, nor the fact that I really felt safe in this moment, though I didn't want to jinx it. And there was a niggling at the back of my head, a voice that kept repeating "Because I love you." And at that I couldn't help but feel happy.

**Emmett's POV**

Two weeks have passed since the day we received the news that Phil kicked the bucket. In that time, I've tried to make it up to Bella for the fact that I'd left her alone that day. Though she has told me numerous times that it wasn't my fault and that Phil would have probably just shot me and taken her anyways; I still can't help but feel bad.

I am, however, excited that I get to take my baby sister to her first county fair.

Yep. Today is the first day of the four-day fair. I've told her about the wonders of fresh cotton candy, candy apples, funnel cake and corn dogs. She asked me if fairs are just places to go eat, so I had to tell her about the rides. She seemed really excited about them.

Speaking of food, Bella is looking a lot healthier now, her face is filling in nicely and she no longer looks like she is a poster child for eating disorders. She also was getting to the point of fixing herself a decent plate of food, instead of just tiny portions. It warmed my heart the night we got pizza and she actually went into the box herself to grab a second slice, without asking anyone if it was ok. I see this as major progress. Dad is starting to talk about therapists with Carlisle, now that Bella seems to trust us all a little more. I don't know if she needs one though. She seems to be coming around on her own.

"Is this ok?" She comes and stands in front of me in a pretty light blue top, light khaki shorts that come about half an inch from her knees and sandals, with her trademark ponytail.

"You look great, very fair appropriate." I smile, "cute as a button." Grammy Swan always used that term and it fits Bella.

"Thanks." She blushes. "Are we picking up Vicky or is she meeting us there?" Bella asks as she picks up Noel to cuddle her.

"Shit, umm… sorry, I mean shoot, we need to get going or we're going to be late to get Vicky." Bella gives a cute giggle and kisses Noel on her head goodbye. The pup goes to the front window and watches us leave.

We pull up to Vicky's a few minutes later and I honk the horn twice. Vicky's Dad opens the curtain and gives me a weird look. Huh. A minute later Vicky comes out in a yellow top and shorts a few shades darker and a few inches shorter than Bella's.

"I can get in the back seat?" Bella offers sweetly.

"No, I'll hop back there." Vicky says with a grin and does just that. My cell rings and I pop it open.

"Yellow?" I say jokingly.

"_Em, we're on our way. The fashionista is finally dressed and ready." _Edward informs me.

"We just got Vick and we're heading there as well, meet you in the parking lot?"

"_Sounds good. Oh, Al wants to know if Bella wore the baby aqua top? Whatever she means by that."_

"She's wearing a blue one." I offer.

"_Sounds good enough to me. Alice we're set, your hair is fine! Get in the damn car. Ugh! Gotta go, man." _I laugh as he hangs up.

"Edward and Alice are on their way."

"Emmett, what about Jasper?" Bella asks.

"Oh hell, we forgot Jazz." I hit my head on the steering wheel and do an illegal u-turn to head back to Jasper's house.

Jasper is sitting on his front step, playing with his IPod. When he notices the jeep pulling up, he just starts laughing. He calls into his house and jumps into the seat behind me.

"Hello, all. Finally remember me?" He jokes.

"Emmett was watching ESPN before we left the house." Bella says quietly.

"So he almost forgot me too?" Vicky says with humor in her voice.

"Charlie told me that if Em is watching ESPN, he forgets about everything but food." Bella tells them with a giggle. And it hits me, my baby sister just joked, on me, like real siblings do. Hell yeah! I start laughing, probably more than is appropriate, but I'm so damn happy.

"It's true." I say between laughs.

I'm still trying to hold back laughter as we pull into the fair ground's parking lot. I see Edward's Volvo and Alice standing in a spot beside it to save for us. Smart girl. I drive over and park. Edward, the gentleman that he is, opens Bella and Vicky's doors.

"Bella!" Alice giggles, then runs and hugs Bella. Like she didn't just see her the night before.

"Alice." Bella says with affection and slightly hugs her back. Bella is getting better about physical signs of affection lately.

"The two of you match." Vicky seems to be a little shocked at this fact. Even though Alice is showing far more skin than Bella, the blue in her top is the same shade as Bella's blue one.

"Color coordinated." Alice smiles at Vicky while telling her this.

"That's how BFFs dress." Bella informs her as well. Alice has brainwashed my baby sister, she can now spout off Alice-isms off the top of her head.

"Really?" Vicky asks.

"Yep, Alice told me so."

"It's true, you wouldn't want to clash with your best friend, jeesh that would suck." Alice says seriously. Bella just nods. I know Bella though, she color coordinates because it makes Alice happy and Bella adores Alice, so she wants her to be happy.

"Well, I think you both look beautiful." Edward intervenes and Bella blushes like a tomato.

"Thank you." Bella responds sweetly.

"Yeah, thank you, Edward." Alice says batting her eyelashes at Jasper.

"Food?" I ask, because seriously I've been dreaming of funnel cake for a week now.

"Ok, lets go feed the oaf and then get to the rides." Alice jokes and they all agree.

~0~

We've all been fed and are now standing in line for the tilt-a-whirl. Bella looks a little nervous to try it out and I can tell she is only going to ride it to make us all happy. Part of me wants to tell her that she doesn't have to ride it to make us happy, while the other part says that maybe she'll enjoy it. So, why not for the first ride, just go with the flow? And if she hates the ride, then explain that she doesn't have to go on them.

"Oh my God, I can't believe she came here with Yorkie the dorkie." Alice is giggling like a fool.

"Who, what?" I wanna laugh too.

"Oh, umm…." Alice trails off biting her lip, in a very Bella move. Clearly they are rubbing off on each other and not just Alice onto Bella.

"I think she means Rosalie." Vicky tells me and sort of points inconspicuously, with her head in Rose's direction.

And Alice wasn't lying. There in black short, shorts, a hot pink and black top was my Rose. And next to her was Eric "Dorkie" Yorkie. What the fuck? Yorkie is holding her hand and Rose has that look on her face, the one she gets when she'd rather be anywhere but there. However for once instead of voicing her displeasure, she is just letting him touch her. Staying there with him. Why do I suddenly feel the need to smash his head in?

"Dude, you ok?" Jasper gets my attention away from the unlikely pair.

"What the fuck is up with that?" I demand.

"No clue." Jasper says calmly.

"Stay with Bella, don't let her wander off alone." I tell Jasper, though Edward overhears this and nods.

"Don't worry." He assures me. And I take off.

**BPOV**

"Emmett doesn't seem really happy." I say to no one in particular. To be honest, I hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"I just hope he doesn't cause a scene of epic proportions right before the school year is going to start back." Alice announces. Then she leans over and whispers in my ear. "I can't believe he took off like that leaving Vicky here."

I was personally a little shocked by that as well. Vicky is super nice and sweet. I know Emmett can't be in his right mind to just take off like that. I look back at Alice not sure how to respond and just give her the noncommittal shoulder shrug and a grimace of a smile. She nods back understandingly and we just stand there quietly waiting to see what is going to happen. In fact, we stood in an awkward silence watching Emmett's advance on Rosalie and this Dorkie guy. I felt bad for the guy, his parents must not have liked him that much to name him Dorkie.

"Hey, guys, I see a friend of mine over there, I'll catch up with you later." Vicky waves and takes off towards this weird looking guy. His hair looks like dead snakes or something.

"Awkward." Alice says in a sing-song voice.

"You think?" Jasper comes back, a laugh in his voice.

"I just hope there isn't any bloodshed." Edward responds seriously to the two who are fighting off giggles at this craziness.

"Next." The guy taking tickets calls and I notice that is our group.

"Do you think we should wait for Emmett?" I didn't mind putting off this riding thing for awhile. I'm not sure it's for me.

"No, let's go ahead. Em could probably use some privacy, plus if something happens we all have alibis, we were on a ride and couldn't stop it to help." Jasper informs me.

"It will be fine." Edward's crooked grin graces his face. He takes my hand into his and leads me to the seats. He doesn't let it go either for the entire ride.

~0~

Eight rides, including what Edward calls a mini-rollercoaster later and I've decided I love rides. Alice told me we should all go to Disney or some other amusement park for Spring break so I can experience a real ride, something with some real speed she tells me. I guess county fair rides aren't fast enough for Alice.

"Hey, guys." Vicky waves, coming up to meet us.

"Hi." We all chorus. It hits me then that we haven't seen Emmett since he took off earlier.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm headed home, my friend Laurent is going past my house and I'm just going to ride with him." She smiles and points out the guy with the weird hair. Alice told me earlier that is what is called dreadlocks.

"You sure?" Edward asks.

"Yea, Laurent is in a hurry to get to his boyfriend's house. So I need to jet." She hugs me goodbye and takes off with her dreadlock friend.

"Where is Emmett?" I ask to no one in particular.

"I think we should break up and find him." Alice states, "Edward you and Bella take it from the right side of the fair, Jazz and I will take the left. I have my cell and Edward you have yours, right?" He nods. "Ok, call me if you find him, I'll do the same. We'll meet up here in an hour even if no one has seen him, just to keep track of each other." We agree and Edward and I take off to look for Emmett. I give a small hidden smile when he takes my hand in his. I love it when he does that.

"So, where do you think he'd go?" Edward inquires of me.

"Food stands?" I tell him, but it sounds more like a question.

"Ok, we'll start in and around areas with food. Good call, baby." He smiles and I have to smile back. I don't know why but whenever he calls me 'baby', I feel a chill race down my spine and I love it.

"Edward, he kept going on and on about cotton candy all week. Maybe…" I trail off and he grins.

"He does love that, come on." We pick up pace and Edward heads us towards a little booth.

When we got to the booth, Edward pulled out his wallet and showed the lady with blond and pink hair a photo of Emmett that he had in it. The lady behind the stand told us that she had seen Emmett earlier. She remembered him well. He ate two 'things' of cotton candy faster than she'd ever seen anyone eat cotton candy. She claimed it scarred her for life. Edward just laughed.

We moved on to a funnel cake booth that also had candy apples. My brother had been seen there as well. The guy at that stand said Em had been there about forty minutes before us and he had loaded up on junk food and headed off. He couldn't remember in what direction though.

"I'm going to call Ali and let her know we've gotten on his trail." Edward gave my hand a squeeze before letting go to call Alice.

I didn't pay attention to their conversation, I was busy scanning the area looking for Emmett. I was honestly worried about him. Since the incident with Phil, Emmett seemed to be stuck to my side and for him to wander off in such a public place for this length of time was out of character.

"Bella?" I hear Edward trying to get my attention.

"Sorry, I was looking around for Emmett." I bite my bottom lip and look up at Edward.

"It's ok, listen Alice was about to call us. They found Emmett, he was in the beer tent. Jazz is going to drive him and the jeep home and I'm going to drive you, if that's ok?" I nod trying to hold back my smile. Emmett is fine and I get to spend some more time with Edward. "From what Alice told me, Em was doing a little underage drinking and isn't in the best shape."

"Oh, is he going to be ok?" That didn't sound good to me.

"Yeah, once the alcohol wears off. Don't worry." He gives me a hug. And I felt my body tingling all over. I really didn't want the hug to end.

"Hello, Edward." A female voice says, his eyes go wide.

"Tanya."

**AN2: Want to know what happens? Reviews inspire me to write quicker…. Like maybe by next Friday. **

**Don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: I told you reviews equal an early update and you overwhelmed me :0) Thank you all so much! So here it is, Thursday and I'm giving you an update. Thank you all so much. The support of this story is touching me so much. **

**There is a poll on my profile that closes at midnight tonight, so if you get a chance please vote ;0) **

**Thanks once again to my beta TwiDi the author of the kick ass story ****You Don't Know Anything *it's on my favs read it people!!* for the wonderful work and support. ILY bb. **

**I feel that I should probably share this about Bella, because she is not mentally slow or challenged. She is based on a real person. I know Bella seems younger than her years. But really this is the first time Bella has had any real social interaction at her schools before she never talked to anyone, so she is still very naive and young. While she has been through hell, she is still finding out who she is and how to talk to people. She really hasn't been exposed to a lot of things a normal sophmore has been. LOL she could tell you the Jonas Brother's are guys on some t-shirts but not why they are popular. She has been socially isolated.**

**Happy Easter weekend and Happy Passover to those who celebrate :0) **

**Chapter 13**

**Emmett's POV**

_"Stay with Bella, don't let her wander off alone." I tell Jasper, though Edward overhears this and nods._

_"Don't worry." He assures me. And I take off._

Dude! Seriously what is Rosie doing here with Eric "Dorkie" Yorkie. I mean, the boy looks like the poster child for science geeks who are heads of the chess club. If you opened the dictionary to dork, his picture would be right beside it. My Rosie doesn't do dorks.

"Emmett?" Eric sees me and steps away from Rose, who rolls her eyes at his cowardice.

"Yorkie. Rose, can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure." She says quietly, not really meeting my eyes, "Eric, get me a snow cone? Umm… _please_?" He looks shocked but runs off to get it for her. He'd better get her a cherry-flavored one or he's a dead man, that's her flavor.

"So, what are you doing here with Yorkie, holding hands like you are on a date with him or some shit?"

"God, Em, you dumped me, you don't get to judge who I go out with."

"Damn it, Rose, just because we broke up, it doesn't mean that I still don't care about you. And I know you too well. You would never, in a million years, go out willingly with Yorkie! What the hell is up with that?"

"You can't fucking talk, Emmett, you are here on a date with Victoria Graham!" She screams, "_you_ dumped _me_ for her, Em, everyone has seen the two of you all over the fucking town together."

"We are not here on a _date_. And, I didn't dump you for her, nor am I dating Vicky, we're just friends." I growl a little.

"Ohhh… Vicky, is it?" She snarks, "why don't you go find your _precious_ Vicky and forget I exist." Rose turns her back on me and walks towards the snow cone stand where Eric is standing in line. She slips her hand in his, then looks back at me and sneers. Fuck my life.

~0~

I didn't feel like going back to my friends at the moment, so I wandered off to the food stands. The thought was that maybe if I get more sugar into my system, it would help me feel better. It didn't. I ran into James and his old brother Andy on my food adventures and they were headed to the beer tent. Andy's twenty-two and wanted to get his drink on because he just broke up with his "old lady", to quote him. So, I followed along.

The place was packed. And, after his fourth beer, Andy started supplying James and I with beers of our own. I didn't take long before everything seemed funny; and Andy and I were telling stories about the bitches that broke our hearts. James just laughed at both of us and kept asking the single women if they wanted to play cougar with him. He's been slapped more than once.

"Em, man what the hell?" Jasper's voice calls from behind me.

"Jazzy man, ahh… there's the squirt, heya, Ali cat, you following Jazz again? If you weren't such a cute thing he'd have you arrested for stalking." She flushes red and Jasper doesn't look too happy.

"Emmett, have you been drinking?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Andy, James and I find this the funniest thing and start laughing our asses off.

"Damn it, Em, this isn't smart. What if Charlie comes in here and catches you?"

"Umm…" I couldn't come up with an answer for that.

"Shit! We need to get you out of here." Jasper starts mumbling to himself and Alice answers her cell phone.

"Edward, I was about to call you." I hear her say. _Oh shit, Edward! Where is Bella? _I hop up from the stool and the world spins a little. Jasper rushes over and grabs me to hold me up.

"Alice, tell Edward to drive Bella home, I'll drive Em and you in the jeep." Jasper is telling her.

"You heard him? Yeah, we found Em in the beer tent. He's… well, he's _not_ exactly sober, Edward." She pauses. "Ok, see you soon."

"Ok, Em, let's get this going before Charlie finds out."

**BPOV**

_He gives me a hug. And I felt my body tingling all over. I really didn't want the hug to end._

_"Hello, Edward." A female voice says, his eyes go wide._

_"Tanya."_

"You don't sound happy to see me, Edward." I swear she is purring her words like a cat.

"Well… uh…" Edward flounders.

I'm finally able to turn enough in Edward's arms to look at her and I wish I hadn't. If I had thought Rosalie is beautiful, this girl was ten times more. Long strawberry blond hair, sky blue eyes, a bust line that Playboy bunnies have to pay for. _Yes, Phil had lots of Playboys I know what they are._

"Tut tut, Eddiekins, why don't you introduce me to your little girlfriend?" She smiles, but honestly it doesn't look like a nice smile.

"This is Bella." He says so low that even I almost can't hear him.

"Bella? As in Bella Swan?" She gives a tinkling laugh. "The whole town has been talking about you." I blanch at this. I don't want everyone to talk about me. Oh God, what are they saying? "So, you are the Chief's lovechild with the psycho woman. Hmm?"

"Tanya." Edward says her name and it's so hard that I swear a chill runs down my spine.

"Oh please, Edward, it's not like I said _bastard_ lovechild! I merely spoke the truth, give me a break."

"Tanya, you're a bitch. Bella let's go." He grabs my hand and begins to walk us away.

"Eddie, call me later, we can make a play date." She giggles, "I have to be more fun than the mute." Mute? Was she talking about me or someone else?

"I'll tell you what, Tanya. You go home and wait by the phone for the call. Stay there until it comes in. That way I never have to see you again." He gives her an evil grin, "Bella, are you ready to go home?"

"Yes." I smile wide at him, because I have this feeling that Edward, in his own way, is sticking up for me.

"Bye, Bella, I'm sure we'll meet again." And I knew that was a threat.

"Ignore her, Bella." Edward tells me firmly. "She's messed up in the head. I just wish I'd known that before…" He trails off. It takes me a moment, but I have to ask him.

"You don't have to tell me, but you wish you'd known before when or what?" I ask quietly.

"I wish I'd known before I'd dated her." He sighs, "it's a time in my life that I'm trying to forget." I nod and stay silent. She's so pretty, I can't imagine any man wanting to forget dating her. Unless she broke his heart.

When we get to his car, he opens the door for me. I smile and say my thanks. Edward is so sweet. And he always smells so good. I'm looking forward to this drive. _Enclosed in a car with his cinnamon scent is going to be the highlight of my day._

"So, other than the drama, did you enjoy your first county fair?" He asks sweetly.

"Yes." I smile, I feel a little giddy. "The rides were so much fun. And I really liked the cotton candy." I blush a little. All of that just spewed out of my mouth.

"Alice is right, we do have to get you to Disney or Six Flags so you can ride some real rides. I think you might be an adrenaline junky in the making." I was a little confused by that.

"I've heard of adrenaline junkies before, aren't they always trying to cheat death?"

"Sort of, they are always looking for a rush. They basically do things like bungee jumping, jumping out of planes, extreme sports and other things that people see as dangerous to get that adrenaline rush." He explains with a smile. "The boys out on the Reservation go cliff jumping for their rushes."

"Oh, I umm… don't see me jumping out of a plane." He laughs.

"No, Bella, it's an expression. I just meant that you'll like fast rides, like large roller coasters. They are a lot bigger and faster than the ones at the Fair."

"Ok. I think I'd like to try them." I give a nod.

"Well, baby, then. We'll just have to go soon." His crooked grin was firmly in place and I got the usual thrill through my body when he called me baby. "So, are you ready for the first day of school?"

"I guess. Alice is still trying to pick out what we should wear. She says that we have to look well put together, but not look like we were trying. Though, she has been working on this for a week now; and school is still a week off. So, I'm not sure she is going to be able to pull off looking like we weren't trying. I just don't understand why a t-shirt and jeans clean and pressed won't do." I know I'm pouting, but really I just don't get it.

"Bella, if you don't want to wear what Alice picks out just tell her 'no'."

"But what if I hurt her feelings, or she gets mad at me for not wanting to wear it?"

"Alice will like you even if you tell her 'no'. And if she pushes, let me know and I'll tell her 'no' for you, ok?" He gives a smile.

"Honestly she won't hate me for saying 'no'?" I like a lot of the things Alice puts me in, but there are some things in my closet that are too tight and too low cut for my taste. I just don't feel comfortable showing too much skin. I have scars I'd prefer the world didn't see.

"She won't hate you for it, I promise, baby." He pulls a hand off the wheel and lightly pats my thigh. His touch shoots electric sparks. It's startling, but feels good.

"Ok." I smile, trying to ignore what those things, like him calling me 'baby' and his touch, do to me.

"Ok." He smiles back. "Now, let's go see how Emmett is doing." I nod and we spend the final two minutes of the ride with him telling me about the last time Emmett got drunk. Let's just say it was a good thing they got to him before he played Superman off Charlie's roof.

~0~

Emmett doesn't look so good. His face is puce-green and he is laying on the sofa moaning. Edward and Jasper keep laughing at him, that's just not nice. I remember from all the times when Renee came home drunk that vomit is a major possibility, so I ran upstairs to the bathroom to get the small trash can. Emmett is a big guy I don't think a bowl would hold his puke. Thankfully, I had changed the bag this morning and it was still empty. I also took a cloth and wet it with cold water and folded it up. I know when I feel icky, a cool cloth to the head feels nice. After getting back downstairs, I walk over to my brother and set the trash can beside him.

"Emmett, if you feel like you are going to be sick, you can do it in there." I tell him, putting the cloth on his forehead. He gives a little moan and a tiny curl of his lips.

"Bells, you are a saint." He says taking the cloth and pulling it over his eyes. I smile, because I think I made him feel better.

"Do you need anything else?" I ask him.

"No, kiddo, I'm good." He then gives a groan, grabs the trash can and projectile vomiting into it. It stunk to high heaven. Alice, upon seeing this, rushes for the stairs. She was clutching one hand to her stomach and the other over her mouth. I'm guessing she is the type that if someone pukes around her, she pukes too.

"Dude! That is rank!" Jasper complains, pinching his nose. I go grab the French Vanilla Glade spray, that Charlie bought after I made cabbage rolls the other day, and sprayed the air.

"Thanks, Bella." Edward says kindly. I smile at him.

"Should I go check on Alice?" I offer.

"No, she'll be fine, just has a weak stomach." He laughs a little, "I do suggest, though, that we get Em upstairs before Charlie gets home. It wouldn't be a good thing for Charlie to find out that Emmett has been drinking." I give a grim nod.

"I'll go turn his bed back, umm… but he's so big I don't think I can get him up the stairs."

"Don't worry, Bella, Edward and I will get him up there. Go get his bed ready. And if Charlie has any Alka Seltzer, make some of that up, it will help his stomach." Jasper informs me. I run up the stairs, first checking on Alice.

"Alice, are you ok?" I inquire softly through the bathroom door.

"Yeah." She moans, "but I'm going to kick Emmett's ass once I can walk again." Ok then.

"Ok." I really don't know what else to say to that. I mean, it would be awfully rude if I told her that I'm not sure she is even tall enough to reach Emmett's butt in the first place. Should I offer her a step stool?

I go and get Emmett's bed turned back and call down the stairs to let Edward and Jasper know. I then go into linen closet, in which on its top shelf, Charlie houses all the medicines. The bathroom mirror doesn't have a medicine cabinet behind it. I take the Alka Seltzer box and read the instructions. I then run back down the stairs, where I clean out the puke-filled trash can and get the medicine ready for Emmett. Going back upstairs, he is now flopped in his bed, Edward and Jasper still laughing at him. I put his trash can beside him, once again informing him where it is. Then give him his medicine.

"Bella, have I told you lately that I love you, kid sister? I swear you are now my best friend too. These two yahoos are idiots and mean." He pouts. I feel warmth go through me when he declares his love; and once again, the faint echo of '_Because I love you', _races through my head. Weird. I look over at Jasper and Edward and I can tell they are doing little to make Emmett feel better. And after he said that I was his best friend and that he loves me, I'm feeling extremely over protective of him. I think it's time Emmett has some peace and quiet to regain his strength.

**EPOV**

After the fuckary that was Tanya, it was funny as hell to see Em so miserable. Hell, he brought this on himself. A combination of sugary junk food and alcohol does not mix well. Jasper and I struggled to get the big lug up the stairs and into his bed. Emmett, of course, bitched the whole way telling us we were spawns of the devil.

Bella came in after we got him situated and began babying him. I had to smile at her concern for her brother. And really the cold cloth was a very sweet idea. I had to fight back a little jealousy that she was focusing so much attention on him, when generally she is looking or talking to, mainly, me. I have no idea why I'm jealous and I file it away to think about later.

"Bella, have I told you lately that I love you, kid sister? I swear you are now my best friend too. These two yahoos are idiots and mean." He pouts. Bella's beautiful face turns into that adorable shade of pink.

She just looks at him for a moment and then turns on Jasper and I. Her little body tense, she has this Momma bear protecting her cub glare going, hands firmly on her hips. She is so cute and tiny. It's hard to take her seriously, but I hold back my chuckle. I'm also weirdly feeling myself get hard. Huh?

"I think it's time for Emmett to rest, in peace and _quiet_." She points her finger to the door. Wow! I've never seen Bella this commanding. She's so meek and calm most of the time. In fact, around eighty percent of the time, she is so quiet. Like if she wasn't so beautiful, you'd forget she was in the room.

"What's going on?" Alice asks coming out of the bathroom, she smells like Listerine.

"Emmett needs quiet." Bella says coming out into the hall way. Her face softens when she looks at Alice. "Are you doing better?" She questions gently.

"Yes, thanks, Bella. Though tweedle dee and tweedle dumb are going to take me home now." Alice glares at Jasper and I. Now I know where Bella learned the glare.

"Emmett's had a long day and isn't up to driving Jasper home and I want my bed and my Mom. My tummy hurts." Alice pouts. She has a weak stomach and I swear she is the biggest baby about puking. She always wants Mom afterwards. You'd think she'd want her doctor father, but no. Mom gives her ice cream and they watch silly Disney movies. Alice hugs Bella 'bye'; and once again, I'm jealous that my sister can so freely hug Bella whenever she wants. Jasper and I wave and we head out the door. My mind is swirling and I'm just trying to make heads or tails of these weird thoughts I've been having lately about Bella Swan.

**BPOV**

I'm so nervous.

Like seriously scared and nervous.

"Stop pacing, Bella, it's going to be fine." Emmett laughs at me from his seat at the kitchen table. He's chewing down on the massive breakfast that I made this morning. Not that I could eat any of it, my stomach was churning too badly. And the only reason why it was a massive meal, it was because I was so nervous that I couldn't stop cooking. It was a compulsive need to keep going and going.

"Bella, don't worry. If it gets to be too much and you feel the need to come home; go to the office and call me. I've already talked to Mrs. Cope. She knows you might need to come home, if today is a little rough on you. And just remember, it's only a half-day today." Charlie says. He generally is at work right now, but seeing as it's the first day of school, he wanted to have breakfast with us before going in.

"Ok." I say with a new determination. Charlie is so nice. I can't believe he is giving me a way out if this gets to be too much for me today. And he is right, we do get to leave at noon, I can handle this. Though, I'm mainly nervous about running across that mean girl from Edward's birthday party, and the pretty girl that Edward told me was a 'psycho' whom he used to date. They both kind of scared me.

"And you look beautiful today, sweetheart." Charlie gently kisses my forehead. He's done this a couple times before and I relish in the affection. I love living with Charlie.

"Thank you." I swear I'm blushing.

"Yeah, Bells, you look great, chill out. And let's roll." He says stuffing his face full of toast as he grabs his back pack.

I look down at the cute peasant top, jeans and brown flats Alice helped me pick out, then give a small smile before grabbing my purple samsonite backpack. I've never had a name brand backpack before; and I'm so proud of this one. It's filled with a notebook and pens. Charlie says after we get our supply lists for classes that we'll go shopping in Port Angeles tonight to get what we need. I remember one time the school actually called Renee at home to complain that I didn't have the proper supplies. She yelled at them, that I was so embarrassed when I went in the next day and my guidance counselor handed me a donation bag of school supplies, in front of the whole class.

Emmett drove to school quickly, parking three cars down from Edward and Alice. Alice was so pretty in her pink tunic top belted and jeans. Though how she could wear those heels and walk the halls of school I don't know. The pink of her top matched the pink in mine and our shoes had the same shade of brown. Once again, we were color coordinated. This made me smile. That means that Alice is still my BFF.

"So, we'll get our schedules in home room and our locker information. First day we never have first period, there is always too much going on." Alice explains to me as she walks me to our homeroom. Technically, I'm supposed to be in the other homeroom, but Charlie worked this out. _I think Mrs. Cope really likes Charlie._

I try to keep my focus on Alice since Edward and Emmett have gone off to their homerooms. She is chatting away a mile a minute and I'm doing my best to keep up with her. I can feel the stares of the other students, though not as many as I would have thought. Maybe seeing me during the summer alleviated some of the 'new girl' stigma.

"Good morning, please take a seat." A petite woman informs us, as we walk into homeroom.

"Morning, Ms. Mitchell." Alice calls waiving.

"Good morning, Alice." Alice pulls me into a seat next to the wall and sits down beside me.

"Ms. Mitchell is one of the history teachers. A very nice lady." I smile, as Alice explained that she had Ms. Mitchell for history last year and loved the class.

"Alright, class, that was the last bell. Please, quiet down for a moment." Ms. Mitchell takes control. "When I call out your name, please raise your hand. I will give you your first day packet. This will have in it, your schedule, student ID card and locker number with its combination. It also has some paper work for all of your parents to fill out, emergency contact numbers, prepaid lunch card and free lunch card information." She begins calling names. Alice jumps up and waves her hand when she calls 'Mary Alice Cullen'. Of course, I am last, seeing as this is the A-K homeroom. In fact, I get a few funny looks for being an 'S' in this room. "Ok, class, I'm going to give you five minutes to compare schedules with your friends, then we are going to go to our lockers and make sure the combination works." Alice squeals and pushes closer to me.

"Ok, let's take a look." She puts our timetables side by side. Alice wrote her name next to all the classes she was in with me and I already knew Emmett was going to be in my math and Edward in my science class. Luckily, I wouldn't be alone for any of my classes. My schedule looked like this:

Home Room: Alice

English: Alice

Trig 2: Emmett

History 2: Alice

Spanish 2: Alice

Lunch: Alice

Bio 3: Edward

Art: Alice

Gym: Alice

After we took time to go over our schedules, Alice and I went to our side by side lockers, which thankfully worked. I also found out that last year they could carry their backpacks to class, but due to school violence in nearby Seattle, the state says that we can no longer do that. So, backpacks have to be kept in our lockers. I was a little sad. I kind of wanted to show off my pretty purple backpack.

Soon after, we went to a first day of school assembly. We had to sit with our class, which meant I couldn't sit with Emmett and Edward. Alice was bummed too. She explained that Jasper was looking so hot and she was worried some other girl would try and steal him from her. Angela Webber, the girl from the ice cream stand, came and sat with us. Turns out she has history and gym with Alice and I, and trig with Emmett and myself. It was nice to know another person.

The principle and staff went on and on about rules, regulations and how we needed to treat each other with respect. They also told us that after the assembly, we would be going back to our homerooms, where we would be receiving school sporting events schedules, try-out information and we'd be going through a small presentation about the school's new website. Apparently, it had tutor information, contact information and other things to assist us in our classes. They were really proud of this site. They talked about it for fifteen minutes. I know, I timed it on the Timex watch Charlie bought me.

By the time we went back to homeroom, I was feeling better. So far, no one had glared at me, threatened me, or in any way got into my personal space. Well, except Alice, but that's just Alice. She doesn't understand personal space.

We spent the rest of the day in Homeroom, where they passed out our books and also the supply lists for what we would need for each class. We were then able to put the books in our lockers. Alice was gushing over how cute the new school t-shirts and jackets were going to be this year. Apparently, last year it was a puking yellow and blue, this year it was "totes cute". Sometimes, I wish I had an Alice_ism_ dictionary. Not that I'd tell her that. I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings or make her want to stop being BFFs with me. So, I just smile and pretend to understand what she is saying. And sometimes, if it's really confusing, I ask Edward what she'd meant later in private. He is always so sweet to me.

"Earth to Bella, you ready to go home?" It was noon already?

"Yes." I gave her a huge smile. I made it through my first day at Forks High School. Charlie was going to be so proud. I like making Charlie proud.

**AN2: I have found the more reviews the quicker I update, sooo yea lol. And I am working on my other stories, I promise I'm just really set back after the computer issues. **

**As always I put teasers on the blog during the week, the 1****st**** day of school outfits are up there right now. And you can find me wasting time on Twitter, all links on the profile. Till next time hugs and love. **

**Also I'm thinking about doing something with my Christmas Surprise O/S in the near future, I just haven't decided yet.**

**Also I want to take a moment and rec a couple of my favorite fics.**

**I Run To You www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5537263/1** : I heart this one so much, in fact I did a review for it on my blog, and started it's thread on Twilighted.

**Relative Wind www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5558729/1/ : DilfWard, is so hot in this. YUM**

**Bookends www(dot)twcslibrary(dot)com/viewstory(dot)php?sid=928: A little dark but so worth it, give it a shot ;0) **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: So this has to be my quickest update ever, only 5 days ;0) ! Ok I need to tell you that I have had to disable anon reviews, why you ask, because some assholes really hurt my feelings asking me if Bella was mentally challenged, telling me my characters all seem immature and completely attacking my story. Those reviews have been deleted, and I'll be honest I almost pulled everything and said fuck fanfiction. A friend reminded me that just because my characters aren't assholes and out drinking and smoking it doesn't mean they are immature or acting like 12 year old kids. My characters are just kind compassionate people with strong family values, I'll say this once and I don't mean any offence to anyone but if you don't like it, don't fucking read it. **

**As for the rest of you, thanks so much for the reviews, they meant so much to me. I would have responded to each one, but I decided you'd like a quick update instead ;0) The Twilighted thread you voted yes to is here **www(dot)twilighted(dot)net/forum/viewtopic(dot)php?f=44&t=9442

**To**** the lovely TwiDi thanks you so much! You rock bb! :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* !**

**BPOV**

Emmett and I made it home and I fixed us some lunch. I was in such a good mood, so I made cheeseburgers, ranch flavored potato wedges and even warmed the buns. Emmett appreciated my good mood, mainly because it gave him a better lunch than hot ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"So, did you have a nice first day?" He asks around a wedge. I had to suppress a giggle at the mess his mouth was making with the food.

"Yes. It was the nicest first day of school I _ever_ had." I tell him honestly.

"Cool. So instead of Dad taking us to Port Angeles for school supplies, how about I take us and we have a bro and baby sis afternoon out?" He offers.

"Ok, but we should make sure it's ok with Charlie. I don't want to hurt his feelings if he had planned to come with us."

"Well, we have to get the credit card from him any ways." Emmett gives me a wink and this time I can't hide the giggle. Though Charlie gives us both a monthly allowance, Emmett takes every chance he can get to use Charlie's credit card. It's a running thing between them, to see who wins the battle. Emmett always tries to say that it is a necessity, so Charlie should pay. And Charlie always answers back that it's just a 'want', so Em should buy it himself. Most of the time Charlie gives in and pays.

"When do you want to go?" I ask him softly.

"When I'm done eating this fanfuckingtastic lunch you cooked." He does this little dance thing in his chair and I'm a little worried the chair is going to break under his massive frame.

"Ok." I smile and go back to finishing my lunch.

~0~

Getting the credit card from Charlie went over a lot easier than the other times I've seen Emmett ask for it. Emmett informed Charlie that he was going to take me to Port Angeles to get our binders, paper and other school items. Charlie just handed over the card and said for us to bring home Chinese food. The closest place to get Chinese food from was in Port Angeles; and Charlie loves Moo Shoo Pork.

The car ride to Port Angeles didn't go as smoothly. I spent most of the ride wanting to tell Emmett to slow down, but scared that I'd offend him if I did. The other parts of the ride, I was forced to listen to heavy rap music and answer his cell phone. All the calls were from girls wanting to give Emmett their numbers, since they found out that he was now single. Some of them sounded desperate and I kind of felt bad for them. Not bad in the sense that they were desperate, but bad in the sense that they were degrading themselves. I had been treated like crap and degraded by my Mother for the majority of my life, so I couldn't understand how people could willingly do that to themselves. I couldn't understand it at all.

"What the hell is so special about a calculator that it would cost over a hundred bucks?" Emmett pulls me out of my thoughts holding up the calculator that is on both our list for trigonometry.

"I don't know." I answer honestly. I feel a little guilty because the calculator is for me. Emmett still has his from last year.

"Huh, maybe I should go into making calculators for a living." He laughs at his own joke. "Ok, now binders." He nods and pushes out Wal-mart cart over to the packed school supply aisle. "Dude, it's a mad house." He shakes his head. "Ok, let's go check out and run to Staples, it might cost a couple cents more, but at least we won't wind up injured by soccer Moms." I follow Emmett to the register and he pays for the couple of items we've already grabbed. My calculator, a big variety pack of potato chips and a big bag of peppermints. Emmett claims that they are a must for after lunch.

We then walk back out to his jeep and drive a couple of blocks to Staples. Emmett hides our purchases under the back seat and locks the doors up tight. I follow him in and he grabs a cart.

"Let us try this again, my young friend. Onwards to the binders." I giggle because says this in a silly English accent. A really _bad_ silly English accent. Emmett grabs black, green and navy blue one inch binders and then a three inch black one. He looks at me. "Ok, sis, pick your colors. I recommend a different color for each class you need the binder for; it's easier to find in locker hell." I smile and get one inch binders in pink for Biology, light purple for Spanish and a pretty blue for History. I grab the three inch required for English in a dark purple.

"Ok, we need notebooks." I tell Emmett reading off the next items on our list.

"Lead the way, Bells." I smile at him and walk over to the next aisle where the notebooks are. We both grab the three subject notebooks, I went for a generic brand but Emmett stopped me and tossed a red 5 Star into the cart for me. "Cheap ones fall apart quicker in my experience." I nod. "And next?"

"Umm… we need a drawing pad and a box of color pencils for art."

"Really? That's so cool. It sounds like first grade art supplies." I give a small giggle, because really it does.

After getting our art supplies we loaded up on pens, pencils and Emmett tossed us both a student day planner into the cart. He also saw tons of other things he just had to have to be the perfect student. The pencil/pen holders he insisted we need, so we didn't have them flopping around the backpacks, I got. I could even understand the stapler for turning in reports and other things that needed to be grouped together. He even got report covers, so it still seemed a little extravagant to waste the money on. But the thing that threw me off, was the three hole punch. I just didn't understand how it would make him a better student. I chose not to ask and he chose to get one for both of us. And a ton of printer paper and a new printer. He already has one, but he claims I need one too. I think I might just be Emmett's excuse to shop.

"Emmett, umm… can we…" I trail off, as we are loading the jeep up with all the school supplies.

"Hey, little Bells, you can ask me anything."

"Ok. Umm… can we stop by that book store for a moment?" I say really fast and he seems to keep up. I have this feeling that he got that from dealing with Alice for all those many years. She could do some supersonic talking.

"Sure, no problem. I can browse the CDs they just got in while you do your book thing."

**Emmett's POV**

I think her million watt smile might blind me in a second. Who knew taking the kid to Barnes and Nobles would make her so happy. If I knew that, I would have taken her many times before.

"Let's roll, baby sis." She gives a sweet soft 'Bella giggle' and gets into the jeep.

Barnes and Nobles was pretty dead. Before I set Bella loose amongst the stacks, I made sure her cell was on. I didn't want to hover too much, but I wasn't going to be too far away. About four rows away, but where I stood, I also had a view of the door. I knew how many people were here and if anyone came in. I had this covered.

I start, half-heartedly, picking through the new releases or as I like to call them _crap_. Do people even know how to make good music anymore? I mean _Kings of Leon_ are good, but their album 'Because of the Times' was their best work, yet it went over looked in this Lady Gaga society of today. I mean, seriously, the woman growls and says Ohhlalagagaga in her songs and looks like Elton John. Why is she famous?

"She looks so happy amongst the books." A voice I would know anywhere spoke beside me. Still in her white frilly top with the pink shrug thingy and kick ass boots, stood Rosalie. "I mean the look on her face was so serene, I bet Buddhist monks look like that during meditation."

"Books are Bella's happy place." I have to smile, Edward doesn't know I found the Jane Austen compilation in his room that Bella gave him, but I did and read the inscription. Books saved my sister and kept her sane.

"Ahh…" Rose looks around and then looks at me, "I'm going to start seeing a therapist, my Mom says my moods are giving her whiplash. I don't see where it's going to help me or change anything. I don't know, maybe it will fix me and I can be me again." She almost whispers the last part.

"Good, because I miss my fiery but _sweet_ Rosie."

"I miss her too." Rose says and I kind of want to hug her. As I'm torn between hugging her and just an affectionate tap on the shoulder, Bella comes over with two books in her hands. She looks at Rose with a mixture of awe and fear in her little face.

"Hi, Bella." Rose says in her nice voice.

"Hi." Bella replies, she has maneuvered herself where she is halfway behind me.

"Bella, listen I'm sorry I was a bitch when we first met." Rose says sincerely and I'm proud of her, but also wondering where this is coming from.

"Ok." Bella says in her super soft voice, the one that scares me because I think she is back tracking and crawling back into herself.

"So…" Rose goes to say then looks up, her eyes turn ice cold and she, somehow in an instant, turns back into that bitter nasty bitch that stole her away from me. "I've got to go. Not that you care." She glares at me and stomps away. Ok, what the fuck was that? I look at Bella and she is trying to crawl into me to hide at this point.

"Hey, guys." I turn when I hear Vicky's voice coming from behind me. She is dressed a lot more casual than Rose. God, could two women be any more different? Rose with her sleek blond hair, Vicky with her wild red mane. Rose in her designer girlie girl outfit, complete with high heel five hundred dollar boots. Vicky in a plain Wal-mart button up, jeans and a pair of chucks. _So different._

"Hi, Vicky." Bella says.

"Hey, Vick." I say as well. "So, what brings you here today? Stalking me?" I joke with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

"You wish, Swan, I'm totally stalking Bella." Bella's eyes open wide like she is a little worried. "Chill, Bella. It's a joke, hun." Vicky says with a grin. "No, I'm starting work here today, gotta save up some funds for college."

"I hear you." I agree. "I'm going to be helping out at Alward Designs on the weekend, doing set up and deliveries to earn some extra dough."

"That's Esme Cullen's firm, right?" Vicky asks.

"Yeah. She named it after Alice and Edward, the original name was Platt Designs, but after Alice was born she changed it. Edward tried to argue that _Edlice_ was a better name, but Carlisle just said it sounded like some guy name Ed had lice."

"Lice isn't good." Bella says suddenly. From the look on her face, I have this feeling she has dealt with lice before.

"I agree." Vicky gives a little laugh as she continues. "And Alward is a way better name." She looks over at the books in Bella's arms. "So have you finished picking out what you want?" Bella nods. "Come with me to the register, I get an employee discount. We'll save you a couple of bucks on those." Bella smiles.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Bella." Vicky smiles back.

We checked out using Vicky's discount, Bella was excited to save eight dollars. I caught her looking back towards the bookshelves and I knew she was fighting herself inwardly. She wanted to run back and grab another book with the money she saved.

"We'll come back again, Bella, _soon_." She gives me a heartbreakingly huge smile.

"Thank you, Emmett." Soft and sweet her words warm my heart even more. I love making her happy.

~0~

We are now pulling into the drive and I'm thanking God that we're home. It's killing me smelling all this yummy Chinese goodness and not being allowed to eat it. When I went to snatch some earlier, Bella gave me a little glare. It was cute as hell. She then said that it wouldn't be right to start without Charlie. Dad was going to love this when he hears about Bella making me wait for him. It's her way of saying _'she cares'_.

"Bells, can you get the door unlocked and I'll grab the bags?" She nods and walks off to the door. After unlocking it, she comes back to where I'm loading up on bags and grabs a couple as well. That's Bella always trying to help out.

We walk into the house and I'm amazed at how at ease Bella is here. After the Phil incident, we had stayed with the Cullens for three days while Dad and his team finished up the local investigation. Then Dad had the house cleaned and everything fixed up. That first night back, Alice and Edward both stayed over in case Bella needed them. The next night it was just Alice; and then finally, the third night it was just Bella, Dad and I. Bella did great. Carlisle has a theory that so much bad has happened to Bella in the past, that this one incident wasn't able to shake the amount of security she had found here. I think it's because the asshole Phil is dead and his bride from hell was in jail.

"Emmett, is there something wrong?" Bella asks me looking all confused.

"No, why?"

"Umm… you were mumbling something about brides and umm…" she blushes and pauses for a second before saying very quietly, "assholes." Damn my verbal filter.

"Just thinking about some stuff. Hey, I'm gonna go grab my backpack so I can get my stuff loaded into it. Want me to get yours as well?" She nods.

"Please." So sweet, "I'll put the food in the oven on warm until Charlie gets here, so we don't have to eat it cold." She gives a little nod to herself and I have to laugh internally. I don't think she even knows that when she decides on something she does that every time.

**BPOV**

Charlie came in about ten minutes after Emmett and I got back. He made sure to get the card back from Emmett and didn't even blink at the amount of money we had spent today. _That made me feel better._

We were sitting in the living room completely stuffed from Chinese food and watching _Major League_. Charlie and Emmett thought it might help me understand baseball. It was funny, but I really didn't like baseball anymore from watching it.

While we were watching the film, I filled my binders with paper and put subject dividers in my English binder, as required. I put my pencils and pens in the case and wrote my name in the covers of my notebooks. It might seem silly to some, but this is the first time I've ever been able to really enjoy school supply shopping. The first time I wasn't ashamed or made to feel guilty about it.

"So, Bella," Charlie says getting my attention, "your birthday is next weekend and I was wondering if you want to have a little party for it?"

"Really?" I ask stunned. I've never had a birthday party before and I'm not sure I'd like all that attention on me.

"Yes, really." He smiles. "You only turn sweet sixteen once, baby girl."

"Who would I invite?"

"The Cullens, of course. And friends from school."

"Can I invite Vicky?" I ask, that is the only person I can think of that might be a friend. "Oh and Jasper, for Alice?" I know Alice would be sad if Jasper wasn't here, even though he still made me a little nervous.

"Yeah, T.I. has to come and Vick I'm sure would love to come too, Bells." Emmett says between mouthfuls of the chocolate cake I made.

"T.I.?" Charlie looks at Emmett in a weird way; and I hold back a giggle.

"Jasper, we're calling him T.I., short for 'Tire Iron' now. He keeps talking about it, like it's Thor's hammer or something."

"So, is Edward CC?" Charlie asks Emmett. _CC?_

"Ha! Yeah, Dad." Emmett laughs like it's the funniest thing he's ever heard.

"CC?" They both look in my direction at my soft inquiry.

"Carpet Cleaner." Emmett says and laughs his deep bellowing laugh. "That boy loves a carpet cleaner."

"Ok." I scrunch my nose up and look at Emmett like he might be a little insane.

"Bella, why don't you think about it and Saturday we'll sit down and go over details for the party, ok?" I smile at Charlie. I can't believe that he actually wants to throw me a birthday party. Renee once said to me that the reason I never had a birthday party, or cupcakes at school with the other kids was because no one wanted to celebrate me being born. I kind of wanted to go up to the jail she was sitting in and tell her that Charlie and Emmett want to celebrate it.

"Thank you." And I meant for more than just the party.

"You are very welcome, baby girl." His eyes are a little wet and I wonder if he has to sneeze.

"I need to tell Alice, this sounds like something a BFF should share."

"I agree." Charlie tells me, so I go grab the phone and dial Alice's number.

"_Hello?" _The soft voice of Esme Cullen comes across the line.

"Hi, this is Bella. Umm… would it be possible to talk to Alice?" I hope this is a good time.

"_Of course, Bella, let me go get her. She is just busy annoying her Father and Edward. They are in a Rock Band battle and Alice keeps booing them both."_ She is laughing a little and I can't help but smile.

"_Hello, Bella Swan!" _Alice cheers as she gets on the phone.

"Hi, Alice Cullen." I don't know why we do this, but Alice always says my first and last name when greeting me on the phone, so I just say it back. She seems to like it. "I wasn't sure if this falls under important information one must share with their BFF, but Charlie is letting me have a birthday party next Saturday." She squeals and is saying 'yes', 'yes', 'yes' over and over again. "Alice?"

"_Oh sorry, Bella. Tomorrow after school you should come over and I'll help you plan it."_

"Charlie said we'd go over it on Saturday." I tell her.

"_Good, so we'll have it all planned out and be able to show him what you want, so he can say 'yes' or 'no' to things." _That did sound like a good idea.

"Ok."

~0~

So it turns out Alice is a great party planner. We've kept it small and she suggested inviting a couple of the other kids from school that are in our classes. I agreed on Angela Webber, Ben Chenney, Bree Turner and Riley Stevens. They were all nice to me and didn't glare like some of the other people. Lauren Mallory and Edward's "psycho stalker" as he calls her _Tanya_ make me very uncomfortable, so much so, that I will only go to the bathroom during lunch when Alice or Vicky can go with me. I worry either Lauren or Tanya will get me alone and do heaven knows what to me.

I felt kind of bad that I wasn't inviting Rosalie, she's in my biology and art classes at school and in art I've noticed how Emmett will start looking at her, with this longing look in his eyes. And I've also noticed that she has been nice to me since that weird day when Emmett and I went to the book store. And I know Alice misses her. We were going through an old photo album of Alice's and she started sniffling when it came to a picture of her and Rosalie together hugging. I feel guilty like it's somehow my fault that she isn't in their lives like she used to be.

"Bella, stop fidgeting, or I'm going to burn you by accident." Alice is currently curling my hair. Once she found out that I've never had a birthday party before, it turned into dresses and curls. I have to say I like the dress she helped me pick out. It hung just past my knees and was fifties retro cocktail style according to Alice. Alice looks so cute in her purple satin dress.

"Sorry." I mumble.

"It's ok, Bella, I just don't want you to get hurt." She smiles at me in the mirror and I smile back. Noel is on the bed wearing a cute pink sequined bandana that Edward got her. Yes, Noel might not get to come to the party, but at least she can dress up too.

The party itself went from backyard barbeque to the Cullen family home. Their party room was more equipped for this. _This_, meaning my couple of invited guest, their dates and some of Charlie's friends as well.

"Alice, do you think anyone would notice if I didn't come to the party?" The closer it got to the start time the more butterflies filled my stomach.

"Bella, don't be silly, it's _your_ birthday party. If you are missing, of course people are going to notice." She laughs.

"Ok." I say and try to steal myself for what's to come.

~0~

The room is so pretty, clear lights stung up, flowers and balloons filling the room. Two buffet tables filled with goodies that Esme and I cooked up. Light music playing until the party gets going and punch fountains are being filled up. Though, I secretly have a favorite thing in the room. Edward, in a crisp medium grey dress shirt and dark charcoal dress pants. He's so beautiful.

"Happy birthday, Bella. You look enchanting tonight." He smiles and kisses my right hand. I giggle a little and blush a lot.

"Thank you. You look nice, Edward." Though I feel like that is a vast understatement.

"So, how does it feel to be sixteen?" He asks.

"About the same as fifteen." I say honestly.

"Wait till you get to drive, sixteen will suddenly feel very different from fifteen." He jokes with a smile on his face.

"Ahh! There is the birthday girl." A pleasant voice calls and I turn around. Alice and Edward's Great Uncle Marcus was standing behind me with his wife Heidi. While Marcus was a lot younger than the late Anthony Cullen *Edward's Grandfather*, Heidi was a still a lot younger that Uncle Marcus, as he told me to call him. Heidi had to be about twenty five to his nearly sixty.

"Hi." I say shyly, they both smile.

"Good evening, Uncle. Heidi." Edward says politely.

"Good evening, children. So, Bella? Sixteen today, hmm?" I nod. "I remember back in my day, back eons ago with the world was a simpler place, whenever a girl turn sixteen at every party I went to, her father or someone would always say sweet sixteen and never been kissed. And, ahh… see, Bella, you make me feel like a teen again, the girls always blushed like our darling Bella." He grins and touches my cheek slightly.

"Marcus, don't embarrass her." Heidi chides. She looks at me. "Ignore him, Bella, when the time is right it will happen."

"Ok." I smile back at her.

"Let's get this party started!" I hear the booming voice of my brother call as he and Vicky come in. She is wearing a really bright green dress. It kind of hurts my eyes.

"It's time." Alice's voice tinkles across the room and she turns up the music. I guess it's time.

~0~

The night was going good so far, the only hitch was that Riley had showed up with Jessica Stanley as his date and Bree with Mike Newton, who I didn't find offensive, but I guess Edward and Emmett do. Jasper just kind of laughed. I had danced a few dances with Edward and Jasper and I was just coming off the floor from dancing with Emmett, he insisted, it was fun, but my feet were really sore now. Not from the dancing, from Emmett stepping on them.

"Bella." I hear a vaguely familiar voice. I turn and see the boy from the Fourth of July beach party, the one that Emmett, Jasper and Edward ganged up on.

"Hi." I couldn't remember his name, but I didn't want to seem rude.

"Bella, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry about bringing up the 'one who shall not be named' when we were at the beach that day. I got nervous and it was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Nervous?" I question.

"Well," he kind of shuffles his feet and I swear he is blushing under his natural tan skin, "you are pretty, Bella, really pretty and it made me a little shy and nervous." Umm… _ok_.

"Oh. It's ok really though, I mean they shouldn't have all gone after you." I say honestly.

"It's fine, they weren't that bad, they just told me that I needed to watch what I say and that if I hurt your feelings again, I might have trouble walking for a while." He laughs.

"Jake." Edward says coming over to wrap an arm around my waist. Looking at the boy, I now remember he's called Jake Black.

"Edward." He says back coolly.

"Bella, it's time to cut your cake." Edward looks down at me and smiles.

I walk hand in hand with Edward over to the cart Alice and Esme just pushed out with a beautiful cake on it. I stall a little, overwhelmed that they are doing this for me. Edward feels my hesitation and squeezes my hand encouragingly. They sing Happy Birthday to me and I make my wish, I wish that I never wake up if this wonderful place is just a dream. And as the last candle flame goes out, Charlie's friend Billy smiles at me from his wheel chair.

"So, 'sweet sixteen and never been kissed' Bella?" He jokes and I blush. Uncle Marcus, of course, finds this hilarious and proceeds to tell everyone of our earlier conversation.

"Well, Bella, we can take care of that issue right now, if you'd like?" Jake offers and I look up startled. What gave him the impression that I wanted to kiss him.

"Yes, we can." I hear Edward growl at him and turn to look up as his head descends to mine. Oh God, this is a dream, it has to be. _I think the beautiful boy is going to kiss me!_

**AN2: Hmm have we learned that the more reviews the quicker I type? **

**Oh and rec for the week has to be fuck hot RaceWard!!! **

**www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5687435/1/Chasing_Victory**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**To the lovely TwiDi thanks you so much! You rock bb! :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* !**

**AN: So this is early :0) 4 days this time, even I'm shocked. I was going to wait till Tuesday to post this, but I couldn't do that to all of you after that evil, evil cliffy. Plus the reviews and support blew me away literally and I just had to type this up. Thank you all for the support of this story and my characters, it literally made me cry happy tears. I love all of you!!! **

**Have you checked out the thread? It has sneak peeks, and I'm totes going to start handing out cookies and candy to posters, if I can figure out how to get it through the computer screen ;0) You can cut and paste below, or the link is on my profile. **

**www(dot)twilighted(dot)net/forum/viewtopic(dot)php?f=44&t=9442**

**Edward's POV**

Dad and Charlie were busy talking about the upcoming case against Renee. Dad was going to testify about the medical records he had obtained and his own personal observations. Charlie and Bella had both signed waivers so that he was free to testify without worrying about doctor/patient confidentiality. Emmett and I were taking the stand to say what we saw the night in question and my cell phone video was going to be aired. Bella, too, will be taking the stand. I just hope she can handle it. She's so fragile and soft-hearted. I worry that, at any moment, something will happen and she will break.

"I still can't believe they pushed it back." Emmett groans, bringing me out of my own thoughts.

"Well, with Phil dying and his estate, or lack thereof needing to be assessed, Renee's lawyers were able to move it." Charlie grumbles. Yes, Tuesday we will be filling into the Clallam county house. Finally, dealing with the wicked bitch of Boston. Or where ever the hell she is from.

"I wonder if Alice is done torturing Bells yet?" Emmett's A.D.D. kicks in and he's off to the girls getting ready for the party instead of the trial.

"I don't think it's torture to Bella, Em." Charlie gives him a stern look. "Bella knows real torture, Alice is just…" he trails off not knowing how to explain the energizer bunny that is my sister.

"Alice cares and Bella knows it. It's a mutual adoration society between the two of them." I explain to my friend.

"I agree." Dad has a smile on his face. "The two of them are so cute together."

"I wonder if we should explain to Bella that you _don't_ _have_ to color coordinate with your BFF, oh God, I just said BFF, there goes my man card." I sigh.

"If you like your knee caps and breathing, I wouldn't fill Bella in on that little detail. Alice might harm you." Mom says coming into the room.

"Edward, would you go check on the girls. And, Emmett, Victoria called, she needs a ride, her car conked out again." Emmett waves 'bye' and goes to pick up Victoria. Before I can leave the room though, my Mom stops me. "Edward, make sure Bella dances and has a good time tonight. I worry she will become a wall flower at her own party and she trusts you. I think if you get her out to the floor, it will be easier for her to accept others peoples' offers to dance later."

"Of course." I smile at my Mom, though my gut is telling me that Bella dancing with other guys is not something that would make me happy.

"Thanks, sweetheart." She kisses my forehead and heads back to whatever it is that she was doing before she came in here.

"Edward." Charlie calls before I leave Dad's study. I turn and he gives a quick Charlie-knows-all grin. "Just be careful, son, things will fall into place in time." I look at him like he's lost his mind and Dad starts to laugh.

"Edward, when you figure out what Charlie just said, things would have already fallen into place and it will no longer be a problem. Just keep it in the back of your mind, son." I nod and look at them like they are both loony before going to find the girls.

Alice is racing by me mumbling about a CD she left out in her car and I laugh at the blur of purple satin that races by me. Then my breath catches in my throat. Descending the stairs, holding the railing tight and watching her feet, is Bella. He hair is a riot of beautiful curls pulled back to cascade down her back. She is wearing a black dress with light grey and white flowers, a little past knee length, it's pretty. On her though, it's beautiful.

When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she turns into the ballroom, why we have one, I have no idea. But Mom wanted one for parties and begins to take it in. The room is decked out in clear twinkle lights stung up from the outer walls to the center of the room, where it meets the crystal chandelier. It's overall effect was beautiful. Add in the dozens of flowers in shades of pink and white along with the same color balloons filling the room, it would fit any girl's perfect place for a sweet sixteen party. I notice Bella give a faint smile as she took in the two buffet tables. She was probably remembering the fun she and Mom had baking all of the edible goodness. I know Emmett, Jasper and I were the victims of lashing by wooden spoon for trying to do a "taste test" many times in the past two days.

"Happy birthday, Bella. You look enchanting tonight." I say coming over to her at last. I can't help but to take her right hand and kiss it. She giggle and blushes. It's so adorable.

"Thank you. You look nice, Edward." I'm not vain, but I'm aware of my looks, so I just give a small smile of thanks.

"So, how does it feel to be sixteen?" I ask.

"About the same as fifteen." She tells me seriously, her nose scrunching up a little while she thought about it. That passes adorable and reaches fucking adorable.

"Wait till you get to drive, sixteen will suddenly feel very different from fifteen." I joke with a smile on my face.

"Ahh! There is the birthday girl." My Great Uncle Marcus and his very young bride Heidi join us.

"Hi." She say shyly. They can't help but smile at her.

"Good evening, Uncle. Heidi." I greet them politely. I can't really bring myself to call a woman, no matter how nice she is, that is only eight years older than myself 'Aunt'.

"Good evening, children. So, Bella? Sixteen today, hmm?" She nods, blushing. "I remember back in my day, back eons ago, when the world was a simpler place, whenever a girl turned sixteen at every party I went to, her father or someone would always say sweet sixteen and never been kissed. And, ahh… see, Bella, you make me feel like a teen again, the girls always blushed like our darling Bella." He grins at her and then gently touches her very red cheek.

"Marcus, don't embarrass her." Heidi chides. She looks at Bella. "Ignore him, Bella, when the time is right, it will happen."

Bella gives her usual 'ok' and bites her bottom lip. _Her plump pink bottom lip._

"Let's get this party started!" Emmett booms coming into the room. I try not to look at Vicky's dress too hard, worried that the violent florescent green will cause permanent damage to my retinas.

"It's time." Alice's voice comes from the stereo system across the room. She turns on some top forty crap; and does a little Alice jig. I look at Bella and she has a small smile on her face. I swear this girl has come so far in the past few months, I just hope facing Renee on Tuesday doesn't set her back.

~0~

After dancing with Bella a few times, Bella who smells so good that it's not even funny, I found my way over to Emmett and Vicky.

"They are so cute." Vicky says pointing to Jasper and Alice dancing. I roll my eyes.

"When are you going to give Jazz the 'ok' to date her?" Emmett asks with a laugh.

"I'm still saying thirty-five is a good age." Vicky snorts.

"Neanderthals, the both of you thinking you can control your sisters' love lives."

"Bella doesn't have a love life. She's too young. Plus, I don't think she even thinks about boys." Emmett growls.

"Then why were you freaking out so bad when Newton showed up? And how come whenever anyone outside of you, Edward and Jazz try to get near her to ask for a dance one of the three of you run over to pull her on the floor?"

"Newton at four o'clock." Jasper says coming in with Alice.

"Got it." And with that Emmett proves Vicky's theory about him and takes off to dance with Bella.

"Ali cat, you look adorable tonight." I tell my sister, leading her onto the dance floor. Jazz is going to spin Vicky around.

"Thanks, Edward." She smiles. "Do you like what I did with Bella's hair?" She asks.

"You did a wonderful job. It's like a waterfall of curls."

"Edward, you sound like a writer for Harlequin waxing poetically about the heroine's curls." She laughs.

"Hush, sprout." I mock growl at her.

"I'm worried about Tuesday." She says quietly and I nod in agreement. "She's so fragile, Edward."

"I know, Ali. But we'll be there for her. And if she falls apart, we'll help put her back together again." I say with a conviction I don't believe. But Alice does, she grins.

"Edward, Jake is heading towards Bella and Mom is coming out with the cake." I know what she is saying, so I walk off towards Bella and that annoying little Jacob Black.

"It's fine, they weren't that bad, they just told me that I needed to watch what I say and that if I hurt your feelings again, I might have trouble walking for a while." I hear him laughing as he tells her this.

"Jake." I greet him coolly, then wrap an arm around Bella's tiny waist. God she smells good. I stare at Jacob letting him know that I'm not happy about him being this close to my Bella. Uh… I mean Bella.

"Edward." He says back just as coolly. He looks like he wants to cut me. I ignore him though.

"Bella, it's time to cut your cake." I look down into her sweet beautiful face and can't help but smile.

I grab her hand and begin to walk her over to where Mom and Alice are setting up the cake cart. I can sense her hesitation and worry, Bella hates to be the center of attention. I show her my support by squeezing her hand encouragingly. I join in singing 'Happy Birthday' to her all the while holding her small hand in my.

Jake's Dad, who happens to be an extremely nice guy and one of Charlie's good friends, Billy Black smiles at Bella from the wheel chair which an accident left him confined to. It was the same accident that took his wife. I have to marvel at his strength to go on after losing his wife and the use of his legs. Not only did he keep surviving, no, he kept living. Being a nice guy and loyal friend and from all accounts a wonderful father to Jacob.

"So, 'sweet sixteen and never been kissed' Bella?" Billy kids her and of course being Bella, she blushes. My Uncle Marcus remembering having this conversation earlier finds this too funny; and can't pass up this chance to tell everyone of the earlier conversation. While Marcus is talking, I take in the calculating look on Jake's face and growl internally. I chance a look at Emmett and he gives me the nod. I'm not sure if this is a 'let's beat him down if he takes a wrong step', or 'kiss her, Cullen, before the pup tries it'. I'm going to interpret it my own way.

"Well, Bella, we can take care of that issue right now, if you'd like?" Jake offers, using what I think he thinks is a sexy voice. And I know now that Em and I were right and Jacob was going to try and make a move. Oh, hell no, not on my Bella he isn't. I turn and look down at her sweet face and go for it.

"Yes, we can." I growl at him.

Slowly, I kiss her forehead first very gently. Then whisper in her ear, "Don't worry, sweet Bella." Before lightly brushing my lips against hers. A jolt of electricity jumps through me and I'm guessing Bella because we both pulled away and looked at each other in amazement. She, of course, blushes and I wink, because it just felt right to do. She gives a little giggle, bites her bottom lip and looks at me from under her eyelashes. It's like we are in a bubble of our own making. I didn't deepen the kiss, now wasn't the time or the place. I wasn't even sure this was a good idea. Bella is so fragile and this life is all so new to her. And I'm sort of waiting on Emmett to leap over the cake and give me a black eye.

Only it wasn't Emmett who leapt.

**Bella's POV**

He warmly kisses my forehead, before gently brushing his lips against mine. My lips now feel like they are on fire, _in a good way_. When he pulls away, I look up into his deep green eyes and my toes curl. It's almost as if everyone else has melted away and it's just me and the beautiful boy who just kissed me.

Well, that was until Alice squealed and jumped on Jasper.

My little world of just Edward and I was ripped apart, when Alice gave a patented Alice-squeal and ran at Jasper. She latches her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Next, it looks like she is trying to give him a tonsillectomy, with her tongue.

"Mary Alice Cullen!" Esme says in a horrified voice.

I'm trying to hold back my giggles and Emmett walks over and pulls me to him. He whispers something about the fact I needed to back up before I got hurt. I look at him and he motions to Edward's fist which was balling and then back to Jasper, who's hands were now firmly planted on Alice's little butt.

"Damn it, Jasper." Edward says only a few octaves above his normal speaking voice, though the effect on Jasper is like cold water was poured over his head. His hands slip off her butt then he picks Alice off of him and puts her on the floor. Alice, of course, pouts. All of this is actually kind of funny. I can feel Emmett's body shaking with repressed laughter.

"Well, can't blame a girl for going after what she wants." Alice says while fixing her lip gloss. She looks at me and discreetly winks. I giggle and blush once again. You can't help but love Alice though.

~0~

After the cake was served and the laughter had died down, Alice announced it was time for presents. I groaned a little. I'm so unused to getting gifts, that when someone actually gets me one, I'm embarrassed and nervous to take it.

Alice went first with best friend necklaces and a spa-day gift certificate for us, a BFF day she tells me. There were some CDs from artists I have never heard of from the kids I invited from school. Vicky gave me a cute outfit for Noel. Smart girl giving me something for my baby instead of for me, I actually hugged her for it. Jasper gave me a gift certificate for twenty five dollars for Barnes and Noble. He told me I can use it for online shopping too. Carlisle gave me a couple of games for my computer and encyclopedia software for it. Esme picked out some cookbooks she thought I would like, as well as a card with far too much money on it. Who give a sixteen year old two hundred dollars?

The next gift came from Charlie, though I couldn't really use it yet.

"Bella, Esme and Carlisle have agreed to help me with your hours needed to get your license. And Carlisle actually has a second part of his gift - that he couldn't give you till I gave you mine - of five lessons with a professional driving teacher. But, princess, you are going to need something to drive for that." I look at him funny, is he really doing what I think he's doing? I, along with everyone else, follow Charlie out to the Cullens' front lawn and there with a pink bow is a beautiful medium grey car.

"Really?" Slips out of my mouth.

"Yeah, I mean it's not new. But it's not that old. It's a 2005 Dodge Neon, not even seventy thousand miles on it yet. I wanted something that I knew you would be safe in. Something reliable." I can't stop myself I rush over and hug him. He's just handed me a semblance of freedom. He also just proved that he trusts me. And I think he must really, really care to spend so much on me. Though a small voice in the back of my mind wonders if he's going to take it away, Renee used to do that. Give me something then take it away after she knows I've fallen in love with it.

"Thank you." I say. "Really, thank you." I give a smile and turn to look at my new to me car. God, I hope it is really mine. I scream when Emmett startles me by lifting me up. He carries me to the car and opens the door to show me the stereo, with the Ipod deck in it.

"It's pretty." That's all I can think to offer him.

"Well, you might need _this_ to go with it." He thrust a small package into my hand and I rip it open to find a new Ipod, eight gigabytes. And it was purple. I love it. I give an Alice squeal and hug Emmett.

"Thank you!"

"You'd think she likes it better than the car." Carlisle jokes with Charlie who laughs and nods.

"I love them both." I say sincerely.

"I think I should have given you mine before the car and Ipod." Edward says coming forward with a little package. I blush and take it from his hands, brushing his fingers slightly to feel that charge that passes between us.

"Thank you." I say before I even open it.

"You are very welcome, now open it." He laughs and I roll my eyes and open it. Inside is a bracelet, sort of like a charm bracelet, only this one has different forms of butterflies in soft colors. It's beautiful. Edward leans over in my ear he whispers, "For my beautiful butterfly, just emerging from her cocoon and learning how to fly. You're free now, baby." A tear comes to my eye and I hug him tight.

"I... I love it." He squeezes me back. Of all my gifts, I know this one I will treasure forever.

~0~

Monday at school, I received a few curious stares and I wondered how many of them knew about today. A day I really wasn't looking forward to. In fact, in the back of my mind, I kept hoping that we'd get another reprieve that somehow this date would once again be put off. Much to my dismay, it wasn't. Now, I'm standing in the hallway of the Clallam county court house waiting to face the woman who gave birth to me. The woman who treated me horribly for the majority of my life.

"Bella, be careful, you're not used to heels that high." Esme smiles as she stops me from falling. It's true, I generally wear flats, or what Alice calls _kitten heels_. Today, she has me in almost three inches of heel. Thankfully, I was able to talk her out of the dress without hurting her feelings. I was going to be uncomfortable enough, I didn't need extra skin exposed to make me feel any more uncomfortable.

"Isabella Swan?" A male voice calls from the doorway leading into the room which I know holds Renee.

Charlie, Edward and Emmett testified before me and because I was a witness they asked if I would wait in the hall until called. They didn't want Renee's lawyers to be able to claim my testimony was tainted and they kept calling me their star witness. What I really wanted to witness, was to be back at Charlie's watching some mindless sports with him and Emmett and day-dreaming about the feel of Edward's lips against mine. Sadly, once again in my life, I'm going to be put in a situation that I would rather not be in.

"Here." I answer softly.

"Let's go, sweetie." Esme says and walks in behind me.

I walk up the aisle following the court room officer. Esme joins the others at the front row behind the prosecutor. I wish I could just sit with them. Instead, I'm placed on the stand, just like in rehearsal. I look over and Alice is giving me two thumbs up in encouragement while Edward winks. Emmett is glowering towards Renee, but takes time to give me a huge smile. Charlie gives a nod while Esme and Carlisle are both looking on warmly.

"Please stand, raise your right hand and place your left here on the Bible." I follow instructions. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"Yes." I agree.

"Please state your full name and age." I'm told.

"Isabella Marie Swan and I'm sixteen." The judge motions for the prosecutor, also known as Charlie and Carlisle's friend Alistair, to start questioning me.

"Good morning, Isabella." He greets with a smile and I smile back in greeting. "Isabella, you know why we are here, do you not?"

"Yes." Alistair had explained to me before that this was a necessary question because of my age; I had to prove to the court and jury that I understood and knew what was going on.

"Could you please tell me, Isabella?" I nod.

"We're here because Renee, my Mother, attacked me and was planning on taking me with her, even though my Dad Charlie has custody of me." I repeated the simple answer I was told as to why we are here.

"Good. Now, Isabella, can you tell us what happened the night of the attack?"

"Umm… I was at a baseball game with my Dad, Brother and friends. I saw my step-Dad on the field and panicked. When I was out in the area with the food, Edward Cullen, my brother Emmett and my Dad Charlie were trying to calm me down and find out what was wrong. Renee appeared and called me a slut, she insulted Charlie and made me hug her, she then began to tell me that I was going with her and told me she was going to "burn the hussy" out of me when we got back home. Charlie called me back over to him but at that point Renee didn't let me go, Emmett had disappeared and I saw Edward on his cell phone. Renee then went on to say Charlie thought I wasn't actually his and that he didn't really want me. She then jerked me forward and bruised my wrist. I fell and sustained some scratches and a few more bruises. Renee called me a 'twit' and then Charlie asked Edward if he got all of that and Emmett showed up with a police officer. That is the only reason Renee let me go."

"Isabella, do you believe if the police officer hadn't shown up that Renee would have tried to leave with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Isabella, was your Mother ever abusive while you were living with her?"

"Objection your honor!" Renee's attorney screams.

"Grounds?" The judge asks.

"Relevance and here say. Mrs. Dwyer is up on attempted kidnapping and assault charges, _not_ child abuse." Renee's attorney argues.

"Your Honor, the pattern of violence Mrs. Dwyer has had with Ms. Swan is very relevant to this case. It also gives her motivation for the attempted kidnapping." Alistair argues.

"Ok, objection over-ruled. Mr. Gale, you are on a tight rope, be warned." The judge tells Alistair.

"Thank you, your Honor." He turns to me. "Isabella, I will ask you this again, was your Mother ever abusive while you were living with her?"

"Yes." I say in a firm, yet quiet voice. I knew that he was going to want more details and I'm praying for the strength to be able to hold firm and tell some of the horrors of living with Renee. We didn't do this part in rehearsal though, if I had known that they were going to probe into my past, into the embarrassment, shame and pain of living with Renee, I don't know if I would have been able to take the stand. I'm still not sure that I can handle it now.

"Isabella, can you give us an example?" I take a deep breath, bite my bottom lip and nod.

"Yes." Taking another breath, I close my eyes for a brief moment before I start to tell them about a time in my life I'd really rather forget happened.

**AN2: Reviews make me smile :0), and obviously get earlier updates… Pictures of Bella's bracelet and car are going up on my blog ;0) **

**The cliffie in this chapter was for 1 main reason, Bella is going to give an example of Renee's abuse and it's a rough one, so next chapter is going to have a warning on it, however to make up for that and this cliffie I promise next chapter will have some B and E alone time and no cliffie!!! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: This chapter, while not that graphic does need a warning for some, Bella does recount some abuse. **

**Also I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint, it took a good bit to get it done and out for all of you ;0) **

**AN: Thanks once again goes to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess and talking me through this chapter. She was honest enough with my first draft to tell me something was missing and we both feel that this second draft is a lot better than the first one :0) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;). ILY BB.**

**I'm sorry I didn't get around to the review replies this time, I'm total fail and I'm sorry. I did update fairly quickly though, and no major cliff hangers ;0). Review and let me know what you think, this chapter has me a little nervous that I screwed it up. **

**A reader let me know that she nominated me for Best Unknown Author silent-tear-awards(dot)webs(dot)com/nominateopen(dot)htm and I just want to say thanks Kitty :0) And remind people out there that they have till the 19th to nominate their favorite stories! I nominated a couple myself. **

_"Isabella, can you give us an example?" I take a deep breath, bite my bottom lip and nod._

_"Yes." Taking another breath, I close my eyes for a brief moment before I start to tell them about a time in my life I'd really rather forget happened._

**Bella's POV**

"Isabella, please be as specific as you can." He tells me before I can start. _I can do this_, I promise myself. He only asked for one example.

"Umm…" I try to get the words to come past my lips. I take a deep breath and finger the bracelet on my wrist. _I'm free like a butterfly_, I whisper to myself. "When you say _specific_, do you mean days and times, or ages?" I stall. I hear Edward whisper this time, _"You're free, my butterfly."_

"Age. And if you can remember the date it would be even better." Alistair assures me with a faint smile. I think he knows what I'm doing. I look over at Charlie, the Cullen family, Emmett and then back to Edward. He winks and gives me an encouraging smile. I look down at the bracelet and begin to tell a small part of my story.

"It was late June, near the twenty fifth or sixth and I was twelve. I remember, because school had let out a week before." I take another deep breath. "Renee and her boyfriend at the time, Steven, were fighting."

Of all her boyfriends Steven had been my favorite, he's the reason I had mint chip ice cream. He was also the only one to try and stick up for me as well. "Steven was upset because Renee had made the two of them dinner, but didn't make anything for me. Renee tried to placate him by saying it was a romantic dinner for the two of them; and that I would be eating later. He didn't believe her. I didn't hear a lot of the fight after that. When Renee noticed me, she told me I needed to get out of her face. I knew what that meant, so I went and crawled into the bedroom closet. That's where she always put me when she wanted me out of her face." I pause for a breath, I was remembering the dark, I hated it. Though the closet is better than the places she'd put me in when we lived at places without a closet.

"Please, Isabella, continue."

"I don't know how long I was in there, it felt like at least an hour, maybe two, but I didn't have a watch so I can't be one hundred percent sure." I didn't want to perjure myself by saying that was definite. "I was trying to fall asleep. I wanted anything to block out the darkness and the raised voices. That's when the door flew open and Renee appeared. She grabbed me by my hair and dragged me into the tiny kitchen/ living room area we had then. She kept yelling at me about it being 'all my fault'. She kept talking about how I had ruined her life and how worthless I was." _Breathe, Bella._ I'm trying not to let the memory cause a panic attack.

"Would you like some water, Ms. Swan?" I look up at the voice and the judge is looking at me kindly and I nod. I'm soon handed a bottle of water and my parched throat accepts the liquid greedily. "Continue when you can, child." The judge tells me. I nod and take a moment to pull myself back from the brink of my panic attack.

"Renee pulled my hair harder and harder every time she yelled. But it was worse when her voice went calm. She told me I had to be punished for driving Steven out of her life, for being born and ruining her life. She kept saying that if I hadn't been born she would have been happy, but that I had ruined that. She then started screaming again, she let go of my hair, but started wildly thrashing her arms around. I shut my eyes tight to block it out. I was so scared. She then screamed at me to pay attention to her and then I felt the stab in my arm. She had taken the pencil I was using earlier off the table and jabbed it into my arm. The force broke through the skin, ripping into me. I jerked on it to try and pull it out, only I didn't succeed before I passed out." I pause trying to hold back tears.

"Go on." Alistair encourages.

"She ended up having to take me to the hospital that evening, because the pencil had lodged itself in too deep for us to remove it at home. She told the doctor and nurse that I was running in the apartment with it and tripped. They believed her, not that they really took the time to ask me if it was true. They never even talked to me, other than to say 'hold still this might sting'." The memory of the doctor was almost laughable. He had done little other than flirt with Renee as she pretended to worry about me.

"Isabella?" I realize then I stopped talking and gave a short apology before I continued.

"When we arrived home she put me into the closet and locked the door. It was summer and extremely hot. My punishment, for costing her time and money, was to stay in there for two days. No food, no water, no bathroom." I was able to hold off defecation, but that was all I could hold back. "When I got out of the closet finally, it was another hour before she would allow me to shower and change my clothing." I faintly heard a female gasp and I couldn't bring myself to look to see who it was.

"You bitch!" Emmett yells at Renee. "If I ever get you alone…" He's cut off though by the judge.

"Young man, sit down and be quiet. If I have to tell you that again, you will be removed." Emmett nods, his face red with rage. "Continue, Mr. Gale." Alistair nods and turns back to me.

"Isabella, I know this is hard on you, thank for being so brave." Alistair praises me, his eyes sad. "Isabella, can you tell us any more examples of abuse?" _Seriously_? I can barely breathe right now as it is.

"Objection, your Honor, prosecution has had their example and leniency. What relevance would more 'examples' of abuse have on this case?" Renee's lawyer objects again.

"Sustained." The judge says firmly. Alistair looks upset but pulls himself together.

"No further questions." He gives me a kind look and goes and sits back down.

"Mr. Jerome, your witness." The judge informs Renee's lawyer.

"Ms. Swan, on the night in question, did you willingly go to your mother?"

"No." I say softly, _she made me with that look_, I thought.

"Ms. Swan, did your Mother forcibly grab you and take you to her side?" He persists.

"No, she…" He cut me off though.

"Just 'yes' or 'no' right now, Ms. Swan," he gives a small smirk. "Ms. Swan, did your mother try to leave the property with you?"

"She threatened…" He stops me again.

"'Yes' or 'no', Ms. Swan." I hear Edward's distinctive growl and have to hold myself back from looking at him, if I do I'll fall apart.

"No." I say softly.

"Thank you, Ms. Swan. No further questions, your Honor."

"You can step down, Ms. Swan."

I get off the stand and hesitate, where am I suppose to go now. I look over and Esme motions for me to go join them. I sit beside her, Alice moving to be on my other side. Alice lays her little head on my shoulder and grasps my hand in hers. It's a show of support and caring that is almost my undoing.

~0~

After my testimony, Frank Peters took the stand to tell his firsthand account. Then they played Edward's cell phone video. It was hard to view, but not nearly as hard as it was to live. I was shocked at the amount of sound on the tape. Edward had picked up several things I would never have thought anyone other than I heard. Clear as day you could hear Renee tell me _"When I get you home, I'm going to punish you for being such a slut. I'll burn the hussy right out of you." _After that Alistair and the prosecution rested.

"Mr. Jerome?" The judge motioned for Renee's lawyer.

"I call Renee Dwyer to the stand."

Renee walks up to the stand and did the swearing in process that I had gone through. She was dressed conservatively for her, a sage green sweeter set and a pair of black dress pants. She actually looks like a normal person for once. That was until she looked up and glared at me. Dead in the eyes, ice chips meeting my own gaze. I knew that look all too well. If she can get near me, I'm dead.

"Mrs. Dwyer, first off I want to give you my condolences on the murder of your husband by Charlie Swan." Esme gasps and I look at the lawyer, Mr. Jerome in shock. "This must be such a hard time for you."

"Thank you, it is." She dabs at her eyes with a Kleenex.

"First, Mrs. Dwyer, have you ever abused your daughter?" He asks. Renee gives a look of horror and shock.

"Of course, not. Isabella is a little drama queen and a pathological liar. In fact, she was so bad, that none of the other kids in school wanted anything to do with her. She was ostracized and tried to blame it on me." She takes a deep breath. "I love my little girl, I just couldn't handle her anymore, she and my late husband Phil hated each other and she started acting out even worse. That's why I thought it best she came and lived with her father, though it killed me to send her away."

"Mrs. Dwyer, on the night in question, were you trying to kidnap your daughter?"

"No!" She says in that same horrified voice. "I was so excited to see my baby girl, but when I came up to her she had two young gentlemen hanging all over her, I acted out. I demanded she come over to me that moment. I could tell that Charlie was clearly a bad influence, if my daughter was there with two men. I mean, now I know that one of them is her brother, but at the time, my Mother instincts just kicked in; and I reacted." She looks at me. "Baby Isabella, I don't know how you can tell these horrible lies, Mommy still loves you though."

"And, Mrs. Dwyer, did you assault your daughter that night?"

"No, she fell while struggling to get away from me. As you heard, from that _very_ edited video, I was upset at the idea my daughter had become a woman of lesser morals and values. I didn't want her to go back to those people who had changed her." Renee takes to more fake sobbing.

"Mrs. Dwyer, thank you. No further questions." Mr. Jerome finishes and Alistair stands.

"Mrs. Dwyer, would you classify yourself as a good mother?" _Huh?_

"Yes, of course." She smiles.

"So, good mother's sign away all rights to their children then ship them off to a parent they've never known?"

"It was what I thought best for my little girl. Though now, I wish I had thought more before acting."

"So, Mrs. Dwyer, you _didn't_ think of just giving Charlie joint or sole custody? You _had_ to sign over all rights?"

"Like I said, I wasn't thinking in my right mind." Her voice cools a little and her glare is coming back.

"Mrs. Dwyer, isn't it true that your husband was killed breaking into the Swan home and that he was caught slapping your daughter and that he was in fact threatening to rape Isabella?"

"Objection! Your Honor, there is no relevance to her late husband's actions and Mrs. Dwyer's own!" Mr. Jerome screams. Renee is ignoring him though.

"Little slut that she is, she probably just let him in and spread her legs, then claimed rape when she was being exposed." She spats.

"No further questions, Your Honor." Alistair states.

"Jury, please note that the objection was sustained; and when doing your ruling, Mrs. Dwyer's last response to that question should _not_ be taken into account." He sighs. "Court is in recess for today, it will resume at nine am sharp tomorrow morning." I caught a look at the clock and it was already past five pm and by the noises coming from Emmett, I think it's feeding time.

We are walking out to the car, Esme has yet to let go of me, she keeps whispering that it will be ok. Emmett, Edward and Charlie are all arguing back and forth in hushed whispers. Carlisle is cuddling a very upset Alice into his arms as we walk. I feel bad because I know my story is what upset her so much.

I look over at Charlie and I'm worried about the shade of purple his face seems to be right now. I may not be a doctor, but I do know that isn't a healthy color for someone to be. Maybe I should ask Carlisle to check him out? If anything happens to Charlie, I have no idea what will happen to me.

~0~

We ended up back at the Cullen's home to eat. It was where Emmett and I are spending the night, because Charlie had to do a few hours on duty overnight and he didn't want us left alone with the trial going on. Fortunately, we didn't have to cook when we got there, because Jasper's Mom, Brenda, had dropped off a ton of food for all of us. Emmett and Edward ended up inhaling it like they hadn't eaten all day. I, on the other hand, didn't have much of an appetite. I sat quietly picking at my food, while the others went over the day.

Charlie and Carlisle were positive that Alistair getting Renee to snap at him on the stand was going to work to our advantage. I had to disagree. Renee is a convincing liar, I've never in my whole life had someone believe me over her. The members of the jury probably all think that I am a pathological liar and that I've been subjecting my sweet saint of a mom to a heck of a time. I have a fear that when all is said and done, Renee will make it out of jail and I will be going where ever she is heading with her.

"Bella, aren't you hungry?" Edward asks softly from across the table. It was one of the first things he has said since we sat down. Actually, other than Carlisle and Charlie discussing how Alistair was exposing Renee, no one has really been talking. Even Alice has been unusually silent.

"No." I say just as soft. "Sorry." I apologize.

"Why apologize? Does Emmett apologize for eating more than a grizzly bear?" I hold back a little giggle. "It's fine." He smiles and I give a tentative one back. I didn't want to explain though that apologizing was second nature to me. And that seeing Renee today had brought the habit back to the forefront of my mind.

"Hey, guys! I got someone who has been at home all day alone." Jasper comes in grinning. He's holding my sweet little Noel in his arms. She's in her cute pink turtle neck sweater Alice bought her and looks so adorable. When she sees me she struggles against Jasper to get down and I move to go to her. She curls into me and I hug her warm furry body tight.

"Thank you." I say softly to Jasper and he grins. Jasper is the only one not looking at me with pity in his eyes. Of course he was the only one that wasn't at the trial. Since he wasn't an actual witness, he wasn't needed to testify and because of that, the principle said that he needed to go to school today.

"No problem." He says in a jovial voice. I look at my baby and I can tell she needs to be walked. She has her way of letting me know when she has to go to the potty.

"I… umm… I'm going to take her out back to do her…" I blush. I could say defecate on the stand but not my dog needs to poop?

"Go ahead, sweetie." Esme says with a warm smile.

Noel and I were walking around the Cullens' vast backyard. She was busy trying to find the perfect spot to do her little business. It was funny, she would sniff then turn her nose up and go to a different spot. At home she has her own area she prefers and I'm guessing being away from her own environment has upset her routine. Which is why we've been doing this for almost five minutes.

"Hey." I hear and turn to find Edward standing behind me in a hooded jacket and a pair of jeans. He's so beautiful.

"Hi." I respond shyly. I can feel the red come into my face.

"I thought you might like some company." I give a small smile and nod in response. "So, I've decided that the law is out for my future occupation, court is really no fun." He says dryly.

"No, it's not fun." I grimace.

"How are you holding up?" He asks me.

"Ok." I try and smile at him. "I'm…" I trail off.

"You're what, baby?" He talks my hand and holds it in his much larger one as we walk.

"I'm scared." I whisper. He squeezes my hand.

"There's no need to be, Bella, no matter what happens." Poor beautiful boy, he has no idea of the evil inside of my Mother.

"If…" I stop to think of how to tell him.

"If what, Bella?"

"If Renee is found innocent, she'll make me go with her." I say so quietly, I'm not sure that he heard me.

"Bella, Renee can't make you go with her." He stops and turns me to look at him. _Beautiful green eyes._ "Oh, Bella, sweet girl, listen to me. Renee gave up all rights to you. Remember Alistair brought that up in court?" At my nod he continues. "Renee has no legal right to you anymore. She _willingly_ signed them away. She had signed termination of parental rights papers. Charlie signed papers giving him all parental rights. Plus, Alistair had a restraining order filed, other than the court room for this case, Renee has to stay five hundred yards from you at all times, or go to jail for violation."

"You don't know Renee." I tell him. "She'll find some way around all of that and I'll have to go with her."

"No, she won't." He says firmly. "Trust me, Bella." He looks deeply into my eyes. Then I have this feeling that if he looked at me like this, then asked me to trust him and told me the earth was flat, I would probably have believed him.

"I'll try." I smile a little.

We walk further with Noel, down near the pretty stream that runs through the Cullen backyard. I want to ask him why he kissed me at my birthday. I want to ask him what he means when he calls me 'baby'. Though, I'm not brave enough to ask either. I'm scared that if I do, he'll never call me 'baby' again and I might never get him to kiss me again. Even worse, he might let go of my hand and his hand felt like it was grounding me to the earth right now. The little pulses of electricity that runs between our touch and the slight warmth coming off of him, lets me know this is real, he is real.

"Edward?" He turns his head and looks at me again. "Tomorrow, would you sit…" I trail off trying to get the courage to ask him to sit next to me, I feel braver and safer with him next to me. He gives a quick smile.

"Bella, would you do me the honor of sitting with me tomorrow in court?" He does this awkward bow, while still holding onto my hand. I have to laugh, he looks so silly.

"Yes."

"Good, I was scared I'd have to sit with Emmett again, that's no fun. He doesn't smell as sweet as you do." He rushes at me and sniffs my neck making me laugh again. It tickles.

"It's his shampoo." I say while trying to evade the sniffing silliness of Edward. Noel is running around our feet while he tries to sniff me.

"His shampoo?" Edward stops and looks at me like I'm a little nuts.

"Umm… yeah, he has this special doctor-prescribed shampoo that stinks, but if he doesn't use it he gets really bad dandruff and his head itches." I found this out my third week living at Charlie's.

"Ahhh." Edward has a gleam in his eyes, when suddenly he rushes up and pick me up tossing me over his shoulder. "I've got you now, my pretty." He gives this fake evil laugh and Noel starts barking as he spins me around. I can't help but laugh.

**Edward's POV**

I succeeded in distracting her from thinking about the trial. Poor sweet Bella, I could tell she didn't firmly believe me that Renee couldn't take her back. Picking her up, sniffing her sweet scent and touching her soft body… well, it was heaven and hell to my body. I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts.

"Edward, put Bella down! I need her now!" Alice calls from behind us and I set Bella on the ground. She is still giggling and I can't help but smile.

"And pray tell, short one, what do you need Bella for?" I love to annoy Alice at times. And I'm glad to see that she is looking a little better. Poor Alice has been so pale since Bella's testimony. It had affected all of us and my baby sister was no exception.

"Short one? Seriously, Edward, you have to be the lamest…" She trails off as I charge at her and toss her over my shoulder like I had just done to Bella. I spin in a circle and Alice giggles and squeals. Bella is holding Noel laughing at the two of us. "Edward, I'm going to hurl!" She yells and I put her down right away. Puke isn't cool.

"Now, Ali-cat, you were saying?"

"Bella and I are picking out our outfits for tomorrow." I didn't see anything wrong with the deep pink sweater and soft beige cords Bella was wearing now. _Damn it, Edward, head out of the gutter, I know where you are going with that._ My inner voice yells and pulls me out of the direction I was going.

"Off you go then." I say lamely.

I walk behind them and when we get back into the house, Alice informs me the other guys are downstairs. I wave and head down to the game room for some male bonding time.

"Hey." I call coming in.

"Hey." Emmett calls back. Jasper just ignores me.

"The girls have gone to prepare for tomorrow." I tell them.

"Ahh." Emmett says. Jasper still is ignoring me.

"So, I've got the winner?" I ask. They were playing pool. They both ignore me. "Ok, what's up?" _Nothing_. Well, Jasper's eye did twitch and Emmett might have growled a little, but other than that… nothing. So, of course, I press my luck. "What is the problem?"

"You want to know what the problem is, Edward?" Emmett says coolly. I nod. "You."

"Me, what the fuck, Emmett?"

"Well, let's see, Edward, you rush out to comfort my kid sister before I even get a chance to. You are always calling her little nicknames like 'baby' for one and oh... you kissed her in front of everyone at her birthday party." He growls. Oh.

"And you are a fucking hypocrite." Jasper adds.

"Huh?" That is all I can get out.

"Hypocrite, you know someone who tells someone one thing and then does the opposite of it. Oh, I don't know… like telling me I'm not dating your sister because friends don't do that, while you sniff around Emmett's sister."

"Bella and I are _friends_. And seriously, come on, that kiss was to keep Black away." I tell them _and myself_.

"So, now you are a _liar_ _and_ a hypocrite?" Emmett says. I don't want to point out to him that being a hypocrite basically means that you are a liar as well.

"I'm neither, Emmett." I argue.

"You like Bella, the same way I like Alice." Jasper tells me. I kind of growl a little.

"Shut up, Edward, I didn't kick your ass over kissing my sister, did I?"

"No." I say.

"Edward. Dude, I don't want my kid sister dating, but hell if it's going to be someone, I guess I couldn't ask for someone better than you. But your 'we are friends' one minute then 'pucker up, baby,' the next is giving me whiplash! And who the fuck knows what it's doing to Bella." Emmett states. "You _need_ to make up your damn mind. I won't let you fuck her over, DickWard."

At first, I didn't want to agree with them, but getting an erection came so fast and easy around Bella; it was worse than when I first hit puberty. I mean, I like to pride myself on my restraint and control. And the fact that, unlike most of my peers, I don't run around with a hard on most of the day. Bella, however, has put me in my place and showed me that I am as susceptible as any other man. I've become the horny teenage boy that I always sneered at. Damn it. Her firm, yet soft little body seems to be the siren's call for my penis. He likes to come out and say, _"hey there, hot stuff"_ whenever she is around.

And Bella is the sweetest girl. She finds humor and pleasure in simple things. We've had talks about books and music that have kept my attention so long that it blows my mind when I think about it. And the way I feel around her, so comfortable, yet on alert. The urge to protect Bella is overwhelming at times. And that kiss… Her lips against mine… that spark.

"You like Bella." Jasper repeats.

"Oh hell! I fucking like Bella, ok!" I grumble. I still want to fight it, but hell, it's out there now.

"And I like Alice." Jasper says calmly. "And I'm going to ask her out." He also says and I lunge at him. Only I never make contact, because Emmett grabs me and pulls me back.

"Dude, seriously, you want me to kick your ass for liking my sister?" Umm…_no_. "Listen, here are the rules. You want to date Bella, Jasper gets to date Alice and I get to be in the room when you ask the Dads for permission to take their daughters out." He laughs. Shit! Charlie owns guns. Jasper pales, he must remember that Dad owns a gun too.

"Hurt her, make me an uncle, or have sex with her and die." I tell Jasper.

"Same goes for you, Romeo." Emmett warns me and I nod.

"So, should we wait until after the verdict is read? I mean, if it is 'guilty', Charlie and Carlisle will be in good moods." Jasper says with an excited bounce, I think Alice is already rubbing off on him.

"_After_ sounds good to me." I nod.

So, I guess I'm going to go on a date with Bella. I can't stop the happiness that floods me at that thought.

"So, Emmett filled me in on the fuckary that is Renee." I groan. I really didn't want to talk about this, I just wanted to go break into the jail and rip Renee apart limb from limb.

"Yeah, she is all kinds of messed up." Emmett says.

"How are you holding up, Em?" I ask.

"Well besides wanting to string Renee up and shove a million needles into her then watch her slowly and painfully bleed to death? I'm mainly worried about Dad and Bella." He pauses. "Dad wants to talk Bella into going into therapy for a little while. Now that some of the shit from her past is out there, we can tell it was more than just knocking her around some. Renee mentally tortured my sister. What kind of fucking Mother does that?" He demands punching the wall behind him.

"A shitty excuse of a Mother, that is who." Jasper says calmly. "I don't know how Bella is going to take being asked to go to therapy and she has been doing so well lately. Is Charlie sure it won't just make it worse? We all cope with things differently and therapy might just open up a shit load wounds that Bella might not be able to recover from opening."

"Hell, Jazz, I don't know. All I know is my kid sister has been through hell and there isn't shit I can do about it. I can't kill Renee, I can't go back in fucking time and stop it from happening and I can't just hug her and say 'everything is going to be ok', because I don't fucking know if it will be!" Emmett rages.

"If Renee walks, I don't know how Bella will take it. She told me she is scared that Renee will get her away from Charlie and make her go back." I sigh. I'm just as mad as Emmett, but busting the wall is only going to bring on the rage of Esme.

"If that bitch even thinks about trying to take my sister, I'll kill her."

"Or we could run. We'd only have to hide out for two years and Bella would be eighteen and Renee wouldn't be able to touch her." This thought comes to my head. "We can go to Europe or Mexico and come back when it's safe."

"Edward, Em! Guys! Remember Charlie has all that paper work saying Renee has no rights." Jasper puts in as the voice of reason. Because at this point, Em and I are both on to escape plans.

"What if she tries to kidnap her?" I say. "That bitch is crazy enough to do that."

"She will be in jail, so it's hard to kidnap someone from there." Dad says coming into the room. "Guys, we can hear you yelling upstairs and while I completely agree that this is a horrid situation and as much as I'd love to torture Renee, if Bella came down the stairs and heard you all, how would she take it?"

"Shit." Emmett says putting his face in his hands.

"And, Edward, if Renee walks, you will _not_ go on the run. Charlie and I already have a plan of action. I'd tell you, but the fewer who know about it, the less likely any of us will go to jail." Dad says in a very cool and calm voice. "Trust me though, Renee _will_ be in jail and we won't have to worry about her anymore." He nods at us and goes back up the stairs.

"Dude." Emmett says in awe.

"I know, right?" I add.

~0~

We all filed back into the court room the next morning, an exhausted Charlie already there waiting on us. He had run a few-hour shift last night, because one officer was sick and another had a wife who had gone into labor yesterday, so, it was a skeleton staff that he had to be a part of. Bella was holding my hand and I could feel her body trembling slightly. Nerves.

"It will be ok, baby." I assure her. It's funny, until the guys had pointed it out, I never realized how often I call her 'baby'. Huh.

"Ok." She gives her usual response.

About an hour later the lawyers had finished their closing arguments and the jury was given their instructions. We were told we could go in and that we would be informed when the jury came back. With that we walked out of the court room and tried to decide what to do to kill some time. Emmett suggested we go to Barnes and Nobles. When we got there, I realized why, it was clearly Bella's Disney World. She rushed over to the classical section, a huge smile on her sweet face. At least, I know how to handle Christmas shopping for her.

"See anything you want?" I ask.

"My copy of Jane Eyre fell apart." She gives a small pout, looking at the four different editions of Jane Eyre on the shelf. Ahh, she is trying to decide which one she wants. I can see her fingering a hard back edition, with a pretty dust cover. I can also see the price is thirty dollars. She sighs and walks over to the Dover Thrift Editions section and starts looking at the discounted classics.

"Guys, we've got to go, Alistair called and the jury is back." Bella looks at me wide eyed and I grab her in a hug. I can't help it, I just knew she needed it, it was an instinctual thing.

We rushed back over to the court house, I still couldn't believe that it took less than an hour for the jury to come back, I just hope they are on our side. Taking our seats, I look around and saw that Renee looked very smug. God, I never wanted to hit someone so much in my life. I know it's wrong to hit women, but I don't think she counts as one. A devil bitch, maybe, but _not_ a woman. Of course, my mental ranting lasted long enough for the judge to get settled in and the jury to file back out.

"Madam foreperson, you have all come to a unanimous decision?" He asks.

"Yes, your Honor." She nods as she says this.

"Bailiff, if you'll bring it to me, please." He brought over a small slip of paper and the judge nodded before sending it back over. "Please, proceed." He tells the older lady who was elected jury foreperson.

"On the first count of assault on a minor child, the jury finds the defendant… guilty." I sigh and wait, praying we get her on the biggie. "On the second charge of attempted kidnapping of a minor child, the jury finds the defendant… guilty."

_Yes!_

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have done your duty well and are now free to go home to your families." The judge gave a moment for the jury to leave the room then looked at Renee. "While this isn't usual, it has been done before. I do not have to schedule you for sentencing since I have already made up my mind. Mrs. Dwyer, you are a horrible mother and person. If it were within the law for me to sentence you to more time, I would. As it is, I'm giving you the maximum sentence under the law. Eight months for the assault and ten years for the attempted kidnapping. To be served consecutively. I am also adding that _no parole_ can be considered for a period of five years. And there will be a lifetime restraining order to keep you away from Isabella Swan. Go within five hundred feet of her; and go back to jail, Mrs. Dwyer. Court adjourned, bailiff take her away."

"I hope you become big Bertha's bitch!" Alice screams as Renee is being taken away in cuffs. I have to hold back my laughter and from the look on the judge's face as he was leaving, he had to as well.

"Let's go home." I say to Bella who smiles and nods. "Big Bertha?" Alice blushes.

"Well, Bubba is in the male prison, jeesh, Edward." She laughs.

"Hey, Bells, ice cream?" Emmett asks her. She breaks out into a huge smile.

"Mint?" He nods.

"Would I try to give my baby sis anything else but?" She shakes her head in the negative. "Come on, kiddo." She giggles and it's beautiful and you can tell she is feeling light-hearted and free. My beautiful butterfly, flying free.

I know we still have to face her healing, I know I still have to face my feelings and her father… but for this moment in time, everything was right. Renee was going off to jail, _to hopefully become Big Bertha's bitch_. And my sweet Bella is giggling and smiling like an angel. I couldn't be happier. I pull out my phone to tell Jasper the news and follow my family to the cars, so we can go get some ice cream.

**AN2: Emmett hugs for all who review!! And umm the next chapter may or may not have some first date action…..****Lots of reviews and I'll start working on it tonight ;0) **

**Check out the thread ;0) we have Rob porn, well sometimes lol. And you can see my craptastic banners, because photoshop and I are not great friends. I kind of suck at it ;0) **

_**For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at **_**1-800-799-SAFE(7233).**

_**If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at **_**1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**To the lovely TwiDi thanks you so much! You rock bb! :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* !**

**AN: So this might be the last chapter until after Baby Run comes. Umm unless I am completely blown away with the response and can't help but write ;0). But as some of you know my due date is looming, the 25****th**** will be here before we all know it, so I thought I should warn you. **

**The amount of new readers last chapter blew me away, I just wanted to say hi! And don't be shy I love reviews lol. And to my current readers hello to you as well. And to my reviewers THANK YOU! I might be fail at responding, but I do read every single review that comes in. **

**This is just a fluffy filler chapter since there was a good bit of drama last time. Someone asked if the story is almost over, the answer is no. There is still some drama to go, and some happy times as well. I have this outlined for about thirty two or thirty three chapters. **

**Ok sorry about the epic authors note, on with the show kiddos. **

**Edward's POV**

The bitch was behind bars and Bella was safe. I had to keep telling myself that so that I don't go looking for Renee to end her. When she took the stand, it took all I had not to rip her apart piece by piece. How could a woman be so cold? How could anyone treat their child like that; especially a sweet girl like Bella? _But she is out of our lives now._ I remind myself while telling Jasper about the events of the day. Currently, we are sprawled out in my room waiting for my parents and Alice to finish changing.

"So, when is Charlie going to broach the subject of therapy with Bella?" Jasper asks me.

"I'm not sure. I think he wants to give her a few days to come down from the stress of the trial."

"Yeah, poor Bella, I wish I could just take my tire iron to Renee." Jasper says seriously. Then he looks at me quizzically. "So, do you think tonight is the best time to ask her out?"

"Emmett and I discussed it and he believes it will be. Something good to take her mind off the bad shit." I tell him.

"So, tonight then," Jasper says more to himself. Poor guy looks nervous as hell. Not that he's the only one that is nervous. Any other girl; I would have just asked her out… but with Bella, being Charlie's daughter and Charlie being such a close family friend; well, I felt like I owed him the show of respect at asking his permission. Though, I hope that he respects me enough to say 'yes'. Ugh.

You can do this, Cullen.

_Keep telling yourself that, Edward, and you might believe it soon._ My inner voice taunts me. _Remember Charlie has guns _and_ a badge._

_Yeah, but I can always throw Jasper at him and run for the hills. I'm pretty fast._ I argue back, willing to toss my friend under the bus so I can get away. Or in this case, I'm willing to throw him into the line of fire. _Literally,_ if Charlie pulls his gun.

"So, should we do it together, or pull them aside separately?" Jasper questions from his spot on my bed. We were hanging out here before going to Bella's for taco night. It was a mini celebration over the fact Renee was going to jail. But we kept it small, because tomorrow is a school day. Just my family and Jasper were going to be there. Well, other than the Swan family of course.

"Together. That way Emmett get's his fun only once." I groan, knowing that Emmett was going to get years-worth of embarrassing jokes out of this.

"True, the ass." Jasper laughs, then turns serious. "So, how should we handle this? I mean like… 'hi, you've known me forever; and I'd like to take your daughter out. And I promise not to touch her inappropriately on the first date?'" I growl a little because Alice is my sister and I can't help it. "Dude." Jasper groans. "You know I didn't mean it like that." I nod.

"I think I should do the talking, Jazz." He nods.

"Boys, we're ready to go now!" Mom yells from downstairs.

"Coming!" I yell back. "Let's do this.

**Charlie's POV**

As I listened to her story on the stand, I died a little on the inside. My baby girl has been through so damn much. I was seeing red and wanting Renee's blood to be shed. Mentally, I worked out many different ways to get to her, to end Renee. I was willing to go to jail to get revenge against the bitch who had made my daughter's life a living hell. Though, I didn't want to go to jail, because I would no longer be free to protect both my daughter and my son, still, I had been willing to do it, if she walked free.

Even though the urge to kill and get revenge against Renee was strong; even stronger, was the overwhelming guilt. Guilt that I didn't fight harder. That I didn't search for her. All my reasons seem so lame now that the light has been shed on her life with Renee. The fact that I could have lost Emmett and Bella both as well as spend time in jail, was the only reminder that kept me sane. Renee and her manipulative ways had always held the better hand. My children and I were her victims.

All the thanks, however, go to the jury for taking away Renee's power. Her hand was now out of the picture. With this conviction, no one would listen to her gross manipulation of past events and take it as the truth. Though, I rationally know that she is out of our lives now, the 'papa bear' in me still wants to kill her, slowly, to make her pay for what she has done to my child.

"Dad, you ok?" Emmett gets my attention, interrupting my train of thought.

"Yeah, son, just thinking that's all." I reassure him. He moves over and leans in to talk to me quietly. I'm guessing he doesn't want Bella to be able to hear us in the kitchen.

"Be warned, Edward and Jasper are going to be asking you and Carlisle for permission to take out Bella and Alice." What? I mean, I knew it was coming, I was just hoping for more time before it did. And is Bella even ready for this? I know my little girl is smart and brave, but she is also very shy and she isn't like the majority of the girls her age.

"When?" I ask a little harsher than I mean to.

"Dad, calm down, I mean it's _Edward_. I swear he is wearing a chastity belt." Emmett jokes, "and I think it's gonna happen tonight. They planned on asking you and Carlisle together and I get to watch." He says with pride.

"How did you manage that one?" I had to laugh at that.

"Well, yesterday while Alice was picking out clothing for Bella and herself for today, Jazz and I corned Eddie and called him a hypocrite for crushing on Bella while at the same time not allowing Jasper to do the same thing with Alice. Poor Edward, he tried to deny that he felt anything but 'friendship', but then it smacked him in the face. So, Jasper and I used it to our own advantage, I agreed to let him date Bella, _if_ Jasper can date Alice. And I get to watch them ask for permission." He grins.

"So, have they asked the girls yet?"

"No, they agreed to ask you and Carlisle first. If one or both of you had said no and Alice knew about it, she would be hell to put up with. As for Bella, I don't know how she would react. Probably she'd think it was a punishment, or that we didn't really like her." He looks at me strangely. "You _are_ going to say 'it's ok', right? I mean, of anyone in the world is to date your daughter, Edward Cullen is probably the best choice. Think about it, Dad." And I did think about it.

"Emmett, I need to go call Carlisle. I think I need to talk to him before I make up my mind." I look at him. "And, I need to warn him, before he walks into taco night and gets indigestion before he even eats."

"Yeah, I'm going to 'help' Bella in the kitchen." He rubs his stomach.

"Leave some for the rest of us." I tell him seriously. I swear the boy has a bottomless pit.

"Can do, Pops." He jokes giving me two thumbs up before going. I sigh and pull out my cell and call Carlisle.

"Dr. Cullen speaking?"

"Yes, Dr. Cullen this is Chief Swan." I joke and he laughs.

"Hey, Charlie, we are just loading up to head over." He tells me.

"Can you excuse yourself for a moment, I think you might want to hear this away for the kids." I warn him.

"Give me just a moment." I hear him excuse himself, saying he needed to check something in his office really quick before they left. "Ok, I'm in my office and sitting down just in case."

"Well, it seems that your boy and Jasper have decided it's time to enter the dating world with our daughters and plan to ask for our permissions tonight."

"Huh?" He says like he doesn't want to comprehend that.

"Jasper is going to ask you if he can take Alice out, while Edward asks me to take out Bella and the topper is… Emmett gets to watch. They made some kind of deal." I inform him.

"Whew, for a second there I thought you meant Edward and Alice dating each other, I was worried. So, how should we play this? I mean, Jasper is a good kid and I know Alice has it bad for him. But I can remember the day I asked Esme's Dad for permission to ask his daughter out, I'm still surprised that I walked away with clean, dry pants." He gives a short chuckle.

"Well, I was thinking about that and I've come up with a plan."

"Ok, fill me in." He says with another laugh. And I did.

~0~

"Bella I love it when you make tacos, but even more when you make this dip. I could crawl into it and just live there." Emmett tells his sister in a serious voice.

"Umm… I'd have to make a bigger batch for you to do that though." He looks at her and then she giggles.

"Baby sis, you told a joke!" He gets up and gives her a hug and I have to hold back a laugh. Emmett gets so excited whenever Bella jokes and if she picks on him he loves it even more.

"It is really good, Bella. All of it was." Edward tells her with a smile and she blushes and looks down, then back up through her lashes.

"Thank you." She says in her soft voice, with a sweet smile directed at Edward.

"So, has Dad showed you guys the backyard since it's been fenced in?" Emmett asks.

"No, no he hasn't." Jasper answers with a timid smile and a gulping noise. Ahh… he's going to be the first to break, I can smell his fear with my cop spidy-sences. _I really need to get out more._ I joke with myself.

"Well, come on, guys." I say standing up. I figure out that Carlisle has clearly alerted Esme to what is going to happen, when she makes noise about wanting to look at Bella's room which has yet to be painted; and Esme wanted to go over some ideas. Bella picks up Noel and takes her along.

"So, Esme has finally talked Bella into painting her room?" Carlisle asks me.

"Yeah, I heard them talking at Cold Creek while eating ice cream. I guess Bella put it off, thinking she was going back to Renee, so she didn't want us to waste the money. But now, she knows that she is going to be staying here and Esme assured her that it wasn't that much money, so they are going for it." I respond. I notice out of the corner of my eye Emmett motioning for Jasper and Edward to go talk to us. "Boys, is there something wrong?" I ask not giving away I know what is coming.

"Chief Swan," Edward starts out formally while running his hand through is hair and shifting around nervously a little, "I was uhh… wondering if it would be alright umm…" He trails off and I'm fighting a laugh at his awkwardness, I've never seen Edward like this. My eyes cut to Carlisle who is having a harder time than me with the laughter issue.

"Wondering what, Edward?" I question him, giving him the look I give suspects that I'm interrogating. He cringes a little and looks to Jasper for support. Jasper doesn't seem to be much of a help though, he is staring at a blade of grass and mumbling to himself.

"Well, I was wondering if it would be alright," he pauses for a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose, something I've seen Carlisle do when stressed out, "if I could ask Bella out to dinner and a movie on Saturday?" He finishes and it comes out fast like one long word.

"Edward, are you talking about asking _my little girl_ out on a date?" His eyes bulge a little and his Adam's apple bobs.

"Yes, sir." He answers me quietly.

"Jasper, why do you look so nervous? I mean, are you going to ask to date Bella too?" I question the other boy who has a look about him that says that he might piss himself at any moment.

"No!" He shouts and jumps at the sound. Emmett's face is red trying to hold in his laughter. _Ahh… son, don't be so smug, you might not like what I'm going to do._

"Why what's wrong with my daughter?" I glare at Jasper a little. I was kidding, but he doesn't need to know that. He gulps and steps where he is semi behind Edward.

"Nothing, Bella is umm… really great. I just uhh… well, oh shit!" He groans and runs over and starts hurling against the fence. Hell! Now I have to get the hose out.

"Dude!" Emmett yells with a snort and a laugh. Edward on the other hand looks like he's about to join Jasper by the shade of green he just turned.

"What Jasper was trying to say is, he'd like to take out Alice." Edward mumbles. I've never seen these usually cool and confident boys like this.

"Alice?" Carlisle's voice makes Jasper jump from his slumped position beside the fence. "You do realize she is still only fifteen, right?" Jasper groans.

"Yes, sir." He responds.

"And, Edward, Bella is fragile. _Very_ fragile." I say honestly. I look at Edward and he is looking up at the second floor window, I turn my head and there you can see Bella looking down at him with a sweet bashful smile. She blushes and turns around. I look back at Edward and he is grinning and suddenly he is standing straighter.

"With all due respect, Charlie," Ahh, so we are back to Charlie instead of Chief Swan; and seem to have recouped our confidence, "I'm well aware of Bella's need to be handled with care, I've been here helping her to heal along with you and Emmett. I would never hurt Bella. She is the sweetest and kindest girl I've ever known. I would do anything to protect her from getting hurt." He stares me in the eyes. "Charlie, most guys my age would have just asked the girl out, I respect you enough to come to you first and ask your permission. I hope that you have enough faith and respect in me to allow me the honor of taking your daughter out." He finishes.

"Ditto." Jasper says faintly while still holding his stomach and looking ill.

"Carlisle, I think we need to talk for a moment in private. Boys, take Jasper inside and get him cleaned up. Oh and, Jasper, once you pull yourself together, I expect you to wash down my new fence and get that puke off it." He nods sagely. Carlisle and I watch as the boys go back in the house then look at one another and laugh.

"So?" Carlisle asks me.

"I think we have tortured them enough." He nods.

"So, let's go lay the ground rules on them." I agree and we go inside to find all three boys sitting at the kitchen table, Jasper drinking Ginger Ale.

"Ok, boys, this is how it's going to be." They all nod in unison. "We are going to allow one trial date, but before you get too excited, we have some rules." They nod again and Carlisle takes over.

"Rule number one, this has to be a group date for the first date and Emmett will go with you as a chaperone." Emmett looks up shocked. "If Emmett doesn't agree to go, then you have to wait until after Alice's birthday to ask them out."

"Rule two," I say taking over, "if the first date goes well, you can go on a second date, however, no school nights."

"Does the second date have to be a group date and chaperoned as well?" Edward asks.

"It all depends on the first date, son." Carlisle adds.

"Emmett?" Edward asks him and he nods.

"Yeah, I'll go. Because I know if I don't, short stuff will find out and I'll be a dead man walking." He agrees. Though, I already knew he would go, he was too protective of Bella to let her go alone.

"Good, now you just have to ask the girls." Carlisle tells them and nod in agreement.

"And clean my fence." I add before going into the living room to laugh with my old friend.

**Edward's POV**

"So, I think that went well." Jasper says after Charlie and Dad left us alone in the kitchen.

"Seriously, Dude?" Emmett laughs.

"Well…" He trails off and I can't hold back my laugh any more. Jasper looks a little offended by Emmett and I doubled over laughing at him.

We drag the still-sick-looking Jasper out to the backyard again and get to washing the puke off Charlie's fence. Really, it should be called Bella's fence, since it was put in to make her happy. She loved running around the yard with Noel off the leash. It was a sight to see, Bella free and giggling with the little dog trying to keep up on those short legs of hers.

Sweet Bella, why did it take my two best friends calling me an 'asshole' and a 'hypocrite' for me to see how much I like and care about her? Her strength, selflessness, warm nature and beautiful heart, how could I not care? She was so different from the other girls, in an extremely good way. I needed to go ask her now. I couldn't wait any longer.

"Ok, I'm going to go find Bella and ask her out." I tell my friends.

"I'm coming with you, strength in numbers." Jasper says.

"If you puke again, you lose all your man credits." Emmett jokes and Jasper's ears turn red. I laugh at the two idiots and rush past Charlie and Dad who are watching ESPN on Charlie's prize possession, his flat screen. I can hear Jasper and Emmett on the stairs behind me as we go towards Bella's room.

"Hey, guys!" Alice greets us when we knock and walk into the room. Bella and Mom are sitting on her bed flipping through a big thing of paint swatches, which I'm assuming they are trying to match a color to her comforter that she likes.

"Alice." I greet back quietly. Bella looks up and smiles softly and turns a pretty pink in her face. "Bella." I sort of whisper in greeting.

"Hi." She says softly and sweetly.

"Hello, Mom, lovely to see you, the woman who was in labor with me for twenty six hours." Esme says a little sarcastically, but then smiles at me. "I'll go give all of you some privacy."

"Bye, Mom." I reply. She gives a little wave of her fingers and walks away.

"So, what's up?" Alice asks as she joins Bella on the bed.

"Oh, God." Jasper groans and runs out of the room. I hear the bathroom door slam shut and I kind of feel bad for him, but also I'm getting a sick pleasure out of how well I'm doing compared to Jasper.

"Jasper?" Alice chases after him and I can hear her cooing softly from outside the bathroom door. Sometimes emotions get too much for Jasper and he just has to release them somehow.

"Is Jasper going to be ok?" Bella asks softly from her spot on the bed. Her beautiful brown eyes full of concern.

"He will, don't worry, baby." She blushes. So cute.

"Man up, Cullen, I'm going to check on Jasper and make sure he isn't using my toothbrush." Emmett says from behind me. I had forgotten he was even there.

"Emmett, there is a new one under the sink in the bathroom, he can use that one if he wants." Bella offers sweetly.

"Thanks, sis." He flashes her a smile and goes off to handle our friend with the weak stomach.

"Bella, umm…" God why was this so hard? I've asked other girls out before, I asked Tanya out back before I knew she was queen of the sexual super freaks, why can't I get this out?

"Yes?" She asks sweetly and very softly.

She is looking at me like she is worried there might be something wrong. I need to get this out, so don't worry her. Poor Bella has been through so much; the last thing she needs to worry about is something as stupid as my inability to form the words 'will you go out with me?'. Why is it so easy to say it in my head and not out loud? My stomach flips a little and I feel sympathy for Jasper.

"Bella, will you go out with me on Saturday night?" Ok, I hope she understood that rush of words that just came out of my mouth.

**AN 2: Sorry it was so short. Remember blow me away with reviews and I will do my damndest to get 1 more out before I go to have the baby ;0) **

**Oh and there is a short sneak peek at the story I'm working on that will start posting after Homecoming is finished on my blog, if you want to check it out and comments are welcome to gage if you would be interested in me continuing ;0) dontrunffw(dot)blogspot(dot)com/ and as always you can find me on twitter at don't_run. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Thanks once again to the wonderful, talented and up for a Silent Tear Award TwiDi, I recommend reading her story You Don't Know Anything and then voting for it at the STAs ;0) **

**Baby Alexander has made his entrance into this world on April 26****th****. Thank you all so much for your well wishes and congratulations it meant so much, you made me get teary eyed. And also thank you for getting this story over 1000 reviews, I think that's what put me into labor lol. **

**Alice's POV (starts Friday at school)**

'_Jasper asked me out'_, that has been the only thought running through my mind since last night. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pay attention in school when Jasper Whitlock asks you out? Ok, so it wasn't the most romantic way. He was leaning over a toilet and I had a cold cloth pressed to the back of his neck while he hurled. But still, he asked and that is totes what counts.

"Alice?" I turn and see Rosalie standing beside me in the hall.

"Hi." I respond, not sure what she wants. I'm also not sure how to respond. We've talked a couple of times since that day where she said those mean things to Bella, but it's been strained and I really haven't wanted to spend time with Rose. She's just so different now, so cold.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if Bella did ok with the whole court thing, my Dad told me about it and I was worried about her." I'm a little shocked at this to be honest and she can tell. "Alice, I might be a bitch, but I do have a heart." She says with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, so far she seems ok. I think it's a relief for her to be honest. Having Renee in jail." _Hopefully becoming Big Bertha's Bitch._

"Good. Ali, how are you doing with all this?" She asks seriously and I can see the old Rose in her, not the cold bitchy Rose, but the old one. Huh.

"I'm good, it was a lot to take in, but I'm good. How are you?" I ask politely.

"Better. I've been going to therapy twice a week, working out some things. I need to talk to Emmett soon and explain to him what happened. It's part of my healing process." She says sadly. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch, Alice." She has a tear in the corner of her left eye. "I'll tell you one day what happened, but I just want you to know I'm sorry and I miss you. So much." I can't help it; I jump forward and pull her into a hug.

"Shh, Rose, it will be ok." I pat her back gently and notice the halls have cleared out. I'm glad Bella is in trig with Em, so I don't have to worry about her. I know some of those bitches would love to get a moment alone with her. Right now, I'm able to focus on Rose.

"I miss you all so much and I wish I could just explain and be able to walk back into our old lives, with the inclusion of Bella to it of course and just have it be like none of the bad things happened. Ali, I never meant to hurt anyone else. I was just hurting so bad that I lashed out at the ones I love the most." She says between sobs.

"Shh, Rose, we can fix things." I say and pull her into a hug.

"But we can't, Ali, don't you see I've lost Emmett forever. And I've alienated the rest of you. Bella is probably either scared of me, or hates me for being so mean to her when she first got here."

"Rose, you haven't lost Em forever and Bella doesn't hate you. I'm pretty sure she isn't sure what to make of you. As for the rest of us an 'I'm sorry' and a little explanation will go a long way towards fixing things. Rose, we've been friends forever and I know we've had our rough patches here lately, but I do still love you bunches." I tell her honestly.

"I have lost, Emmett, Alice. He's with Victoria now." She slips down to the floor and is crying with her back to the lockers and her knees pulled to her chest. I've never seen Rosalie so broken and vulnerable. "It just feels like all of you replaced me with her." She says softly.

"No, Rose, oh no." I get down beside her and hold her to me. "No one can replace you. Vicky has hung out with us a couple of times, but I wouldn't call her my friend. As for Emmett, I don't think they are dating, just hanging out as friends."

"Really?" She almost whispers.

"Yeah. I mean she and Emmett had never gone on a date or anything like that."

"Ms. Cullen, Ms. Hale why are we in the hallway when classes are in session?" Ms. Meadows the assistant vice principle is standing in front of us with an accusing glare.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Meadows, I don't feel well and Alice was trying to help me to the nurse." Rose lies smoothly.

"Ms. Cullen, go to class, if your teacher has a problem tell them to contact me. Ms. Hale, I'll escort you to the nurse." I wave 'bye' to Rose and head to class.

~0~

_Saturday morning and I'm feeling fine._ I sing to myself as I rush around grabbing clothes for the day. First stop is to go raid Bella's closet and find her something suitable for a date. I still hate that this has to be a group date, but at least Dad said 'yes'. He's so getting a kick-ass Christmas present.

_Hmm… what to wear?_ Jeans and a pull over seem good enough for now. Though I am so wearing a dress or a skirt on this date, Jasper is a legs man.

After dressing, I rush downstairs to see Dad on his way to go volunteer at the free clinic on the Rez. I, of course, talk him into driving me to Bella's first. Ugh! Of course, he had his old crap from the seventies playing in the car. Seriously, with groups called _Bread and Three Dog Night_, I guess you really can't expect much from them. Thankfully, it's a short trip and I am able to rush past Charlie on his way off to work and up to Bella's room. She's sleeping and I almost feel bad about waking her up. _Almost_.

"Wake up, Bella, we have to find you an outfit for tonight." I inform her. She grumbles something about 'weekend' and 'sun barely up'. I turn on the radio and some vintage N'Sync is playing, so I have to get down with my bad self. Dancing around Bella's room, I remember when I was little; Rose and I had this friend Rae who would hang out with us and we would lip sync to songs on the radio and dance all the time. God, I miss those days. But Rae moved away and we all grew up. Life goes on.

"Damn it, Shorty." Emmett yells. I woke the bear. I can't help but laugh at this.

"Hey, Em." I laugh and wave and the cranky boy standing in the doorway.

"Alice, it's too early for this, seriously." He grumbles and wanders off. By this point Bella is doing this zombie-sleep-walk towards the bathroom and I start going through her closet.

What does one wear on a group first date? Ok, that just sounds weird. Hmm… what does one wear on a _first_ date that they are going on in a group environment? Ok, sounds better, a little formal but uhh… _whatever_. After staring at the closet a few more minutes I look out to find Bella sitting half awake on her bed playing with Noel. Ok, I know with Bella I have to watch the amount of skin she is showing, I want her to be comfortable and I know she doesn't like her scars to show. So, where does that leave us?

_Ok, I'm giving in._

Pulling open my cell to call the one person I know that has been on several dates. While I wish I could claim the same thing, I've been busy waiting for Jasper to ask me out, so my experience is nil and Bella's is probably even less than that, like _negative_ nil. Hmm… is there such thing as 'negative nil'? Dialing, I hold my breath till I hear her mumble 'hello'.

"Rose, I need your help."

**Bella's POV**

"Bella, go out Saturday." That's about all I understood. He spoke so fast.

"Umm… ok?" I answer, though even to my own ears it sounds like a question.

"Really?" He asks excitedly and I nod. I really didn't know how to say 'no' to an excited and happy Edward. "Good." His smile is breathtaking. "So, I was thinking if we leave at six, we'll be there in time to eat at seven and have plenty of time to catch a movie afterwards." He seems lighter now and very happy. I'm not exactly sure why. I mean, it's not like I've ever said 'no' to hanging out with them. I guess we are all going to get dinner and a movie on Saturday night and from the way Edward is acting it's an important outing. Is it someone's birthday? Should I ask?

"Ok." He leans in and hugs me. My mind kind of freezes and I don't think I'll ever get used to how good Edward smells. It draws me in. It smells like spice and boy. A squeal broke us apart. Alice runs in and jumps me on the bed.

"Jasper asked me out!" She yells bouncing like crazy. Over the length of time I've known Alice, she has told me many, many times how much she wished Jasper would ask her out. I knew that at this moment Alice was happier than I'd ever seen her.

"I'm so happy for you." I say honestly and hug her back.

"Bella, we have to go shopping, I don't have anything to wear." She looks horrified.

"It will be ok." I assure her. Because, honestly Alice's closet has as much clothing as some stores I've been in. I'm sure she can find something in there to wear.

"Alice, Edward, come on guys it's time to go." Esme calls her children.

"Ok, I'll meet you on Skype in an hour." Alice tells me with a hug 'goodbye'; and I nod.

"See you in school in the morning." Edward hugs me as well. I take one last look at the beautiful boy as he smiles before turning to leave.

"Night." I reply softly to his back.

~0~

School Friday passes in a blur. No one really knew why we were out of school during the trial, I assume some of the teachers did, but it was never explained in the newspaper. Luckily, in the papers I was just described as an unidentified minor and Renee's last name was Dwyer _not_ Swan, so there was no connection made by the people at school. I didn't want their looks of pity. It was bad enough when Phil was caught in our house and died, the gossip was pretty bad, but they just thought he was a random stalker. Hopefully, no one will put two and two together.

Saturday, was a different story, it felt like the day part lasted forever. It could be due to the fact Alice showed up at eight thirty this morning and began going through my closet. She was tossing things left and right all while talking to someone on her cell phone. About thirty minutes ago she screamed, "Yes!"; and then tossed a grey top with a black undershirt, I think she calls them camis and some black pants onto my bed. After that, she picked up the house phone and called someone, while keeping whoever was on her cell on hold. Ten minutes after that, Esme showed up to pick her up. Alice waved and told me she'd be back at four to get me dressed.

"It should be illegal to wake people up before eleven on a Saturday." Emmett grumbles beside me on the sofa. The whirlwind that is Alice woke him up as well.

"Don't you have to be at work at nine next Saturday?" I ask Emmett softly, a little confused since he would have to get up early on a Saturday and here he was complaining.

"Different, kiddo. I get paid to be up early then. Now I'm just plotting ways to get revenge on Shorty. I'm thinking itching powder in her panty drawer." He says with a devious grin. I hold back my giggle though. I can't help but find the mini prank war that Emmett and Alice seem to engage in off and on hilarious.

"What do you want for lunch?" I ask changing the subject.

"Leftover tacos?" He asks hopefully.

"There wasn't any, I'm sorry." I didn't want to be rude and remind him that he had eaten the one left over taco last night. Maybe we should get Dr. Cullen to test Emmett's memory? Is this the early stages of dementia? Perhaps Dr. Cullen should test him for a tape worm while he's at it. Emmett eats more than anyone I've ever seen. Not that I've seen many people, but still _eight_ tacos, dip and a salad has to be a record.

"Cheeseburger?" He tries next. I nod and smile, those were easy to make. "Cool."

I pick up Noel and walk into the kitchen where I sit her in the usual chair before I begin washing my hands and prepping the food. I make two for Emmett and one for myself and I also throw some tatter tots into the oven to have as a side dish. I jump a little startled when I notice Emmett standing in the door way looking nervous.

"What is wrong?" I ask him softly.

"I... well, I was thinking of asking Vicky to go with us tonight. Like as a date." He tells me and I swear he's blushing a little. "Are you ok with that?" I'm not exactly sure why I would have a problem with it, so I shook my head 'yes'.

"It's fine." I assure him softly.

"Great!" He smiles and pulls out his cell before walking back into the living room.

~0~

It's five and for the past forty minutes, Alice has been staring at my hair going 'hmm...'; Every so often, she'll pull it up, or back down. Honestly, it's a little unnerving having her pay such close scrutiny to my hair.

"Loose waves going down your back." She says decisively and plugs in her large barrel curling iron. "Let's get you dressed while that's heating up and then, we'll put your robe over your clothing so we don't get makeup on it or anything."

"Ok." I stand up and slip on the black dress pants and the undershirt, cami I think it's called… and then, the low cut grayish maybe almost silver top. I look kind of cute in it. I mean, I'm in no way a beauty queen. If you put me beside Alice, Rosalie or even that weird girl Tanya, I'd fade into the background, but tonight I look cute.

Alice takes her time doing my hair and then she puts a light blush in pink, eyeliner and mascara both in black and a very pale pink lip gloss on me. It's understated compared to the bright colors she is wearing but it's within my comfort zone, so I smile and thank her. Alice just bubbles on about how hot I look and how Edward is going to be blown over.

"Done, with fifteen minutes to spare before we have to leave." Alice smiles. Her red silky shirt and red lipstick were the exact same shade and I wonder how she was able to match them up so well. I was about to ask when a knock came on my door.

"Come in." I beckon softly.

"Hey, wow! You both look great." Vicky tells us smiling. She is wearing a plain black sweater with a v-neck, some jeans and these weird boots with lots of straps and buckles.

"Thank you." I respond shyly with a small smile of my own.

"Thanks." Alice tosses at her in a cool tone.

"So, I guess we are going to Gordy's for pizza, before hitting the theater for _Resident Evil: Afterlife._" Vicky informs us.

"You're going too?" Alice asks, he voice sounding shocked.

"Emmett invited me to be his date this morning." Vicky blushes a little. "I've been wondering if he was ever actually going to ask me out." She gives a small laugh.

"Oh." Is Alice's response, "I need to use the little girls' room before we go." She tells me, before grabbing her purse and heading out the door.

"Is she ok?" Vicky asks me.

"I think she's just nervous and excited that Jasper asked her out." I reply softly.

"Ahh, first dates can be nerve wracking. I know I'm nervous that I'm going to do something and Em will never ask me out again. How are you holding up? I mean, going out on a date with Edward Cullen, you will be the envy of most of Forks High's female and gay male population." She laughs a little but looks serious.

"A date?" I sputter.

"Bella, Emmett told me that Edward asked you out on a date tonight, but that Charlie and Dr. Cullen said that it had to be a group date for your first." I was stunned.

"A date?" I say again like an idiot. A date with the beautiful boy, who smells like a dream and makes me feel fluttery and safe all at the same time?"I thought we were just going to hang out." I mutter to myself but Vicky overhears me.

"Bella, don't you want to go on a date with Edward?" _Did I?_

"Yes." I say honestly. I may be shy and somewhat broken, but since the first moment I met Edward something about him calmed me and made me feel safe.

"Then forget he's a stupid boy who apparently didn't ask you out properly, I mean, if you didn't realize it was a date he did it wrong." She laughs and I give a faint smile. "And just enjoy yourself. Alice and I will be in the same boat as you, out on our first dates with these incredibly hot guys. It's like a mini support group." Did she just call Emmett hot? Why am I having this urge to suppress an '_Ewww' _to that?

"Ok." I give my trademark answer. "Ok." She replies with a smile.

~0~

Edward sat beside me in the booth at Gordy's with Vicky on his other side, while Alice and Jasper sat opposite of us with Emmett beside Jasper. I noticed several other groups of people our age in the restaurant laughing and having a great time and I felt giddy. I was out with people who call themselves my friends and family, on a date like a normal girl my age. And I didn't have to worry about Renee popping up and calling me something derogatory. 'Slut' seemed to be her favorite nickname for me.

"Drink?" I caught the end of Edward asking me if I wanted a drink.

"Coke?" I answer, but it sounds more like a question.

"Ohh, I'll have a Coke too." Alice smiles at me.

"Do you have caffeine-free Coke?" Emmett asks the waitress who looks bored as hell.

"Yep." She answers.

"Ok, make sure Shorty stuff gets the caffeine-free one." He laughs pointing at Alice.

"Two pitchers of Coke and two large pies with double cheese and pepperoni for the table." Edward tells the waitress with authority.

"So instead of Cokes and caffeine-free Coke you want two pitchers of regular Coke and the two large pies with extra cheese and pep?" He nods and she smiles at him. "I'll be back in a couple with your drinks. Pizza will be about twenty minutes."

Alice spent the time between the waitress leaving and coming back with our drinks telling Emmett off for trying to deny her caffeine. I kept out of it, though I had heard both Carlisle and Charlie say that Alice's caffeine intake had to be monitored because it made her extremely hyper active. It scared me to think of Alice any more hyper than what she is already.

"Here you go, kids." The waitress says as she places the pitchers on the table. "Food will be here soon."

"Thank you." Edward says politely. I love Edward's manners, they remind me of the men in my favorite books. It was dazzling.

"So, Emmett, are you enjoying the season off from football?" Vicky asks my brother breaking the silence at the table.

"Yeah, my scholarship is going to be in baseball to U-Dub, so I figured, it's better not to risk a football injury before baseball season, make sure I keep the scholarship." He tells her.

"I didn't know you had a scholarship." Alice says with surprise.

"Last year after the final game when the scouts were there for Tom Rachelle the guy from the University of Washington in Seattle saw me play and liked what he saw. Next thing I know I'm getting an application to the school in the mail with a fee waiver, talk about early admissions. They sent me an acceptance this week with a full ride baseball scholarship." I notice he didn't mention that it happened the day after Renee was put in jail.

"Dude, you never told us." Jasper exclaims.

"Yeah, I didn't want you assholes to be jealous of my _fabulousness_, I mean I've already gotten into college without really trying." He smiles.

"Charlie must be so proud of you." Vicky says smiling.

"He did this odd happy dance, it was kind of scary." Emmett says seriously. "It was this odd jerking and hopping around."

"I thought he needed an ambulance." I add in shyly. I had walked in on Charlie and his "happy dance" and thought something was wrong with Charlie. He kind of looked like he was having a seizure.

"That was pretty funny." Emmett laugh, probably remembering Charlie's face when I went to call 911.

"What are you planning on majoring in?" Vicky asks him. I notice Alice glare a little at her and I don't know why.

"No clue, maybe physical education to be a gym teacher, or something else I haven't decided yet. What about you?"

"I'm probably going to Port Angeles Community College and getting a nursing degree. It's a lot cheaper than a four year school and the pay for nursing isn't too shabby." She tells him with a smile.

"And here is your food." The waitress returns with our food and we all say 'thanks' before she walks away. Everyone grabs a slice and begins eating.

Victoria and Emmett keep talking and Alice seems to glare more and more as the meal goes on. Jasper and Edward both look at me like I should know what is wrong with Alice, I wish I knew though. I've never seen Alice like this before.

"Ali-cat, are you ok?" Edward asks across the table to his sister.

"Yes." She answers simply before going back to glaring.

"Do you know what's wrong?" He whispers in my ear and I feel a chill run down my spine.

"Umm… she seemed surprised Vicky was coming with us." I remember her shock earlier.

"Ahh." He answers. "Are you having a good time?" He asks with a smile.

"Yes." And feeling bold for one second I ask him, "are you?"

"Yes." His smile is even bigger when he tells me this, his warm emerald eyes shining brightly.

"Guys, we are going to be late for the movie if we don't leave soon." Vicky informs us. The waitress chooses that time to come over and see if we needed anything else, Edward asks for the bill.

~0~

Sitting beside Edward in the dark movie theater is an experience. Alice had us break off into our own private dates and sit in separate areas. So, I'm sitting side by side in the dark with my beautiful boy and my palm is tingling because I have this overwhelming urge to hold his hand. I've seen couples do that all the time; people who are _dating_. I mean, I can't help but wonder if this one date that I didn't even know was a date means that we _are_ dating. And if so, does that mean I can hold his hand. I mean, he paid for my dinner, even though I offered to pay for myself and he paid for our movie tickets and the popcorn, some things called snowcaps and this jumbo drink that I just know is going to have me up all night. Between the caffeine and my bladder I shouldn't have gotten it.

"Snowcap?" He offers sweetly and I take one, thankful for something to do with my hand besides having it just sitting there waiting to see if I can hold his.

"Thank you." I mutter softly.

"Bella…" He hesitates and I turn to look at him, gently biting my bottom lip. He groans a little and then looks me in the eyes. "I know it's the end of next month, but I was wondering if you'd attend the Homecoming dance with me?" _A date?_

"A date?" I really need a better filter between my thoughts and what I say.

"Yes." He smiles.

"Ok." I reply with my own smile.

"Ok." He repeats and reaches over and takes hold of my hand.

A small sigh of contentment slips through my lips and the smile doesn't leave my face for the rest of the movie. I know next to nothing about dating and boys. But if this is what it's like; Edward Cullen holding my hand, then I think I really like it. _I think… I really like him._

**AN2: Review please… **


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: ****Thanks so much to TwiDi who clean up A LOT in this chapter and made it 10 times better. Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* !**

**I'm curious where you heard about this story so if you can remember please add it to your review. I'd really like to thank anyone who has recommended it. Now this chapter is pretty much fluff, though it's the last all fluffy chapter for awhile. **

**Orginally I hadn't planned on an Alice's pov but there was so much Alice hate last time I figured she needed to explain what was going on. **

**Alice POV** (*wasn't going to be here, but felt I needed to give a short explanation of her behavior*)

Vicky. I've never had a problem with Emmett becoming close friends with her, yet still somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it stood the potential to become more than that. I was prepared for that.

_At least I thought I was._

After talking to Rose, the other day, and telling her that Em and Vicky were not dating, only to find out that they were going on a date that _same_ night… it made me feel like a liar. Rationally, and at the time, I didn't know that they were going on a date when I had spoken to Rose, so _technically,_ I wasn't a liar. Still, I felt like one. I hate liars; I don't want to be one.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Vicky, she _is_ a nice girl. We really haven't spent that much time together or had a meaningful talk. I consider her a close acquaintance, _not_ a friend. You know when you meet someone that you have an instant connection with, or grow a connection with and that's how you become friends? Vicky and I don't have that. Bella and Vicky do though; and I respect that. So, like I said I have nothing against her, I even like her, but there is no 'friend chemistry' between us.

When Vicky dropped the bomb that she would be joining us as Em's date, I was shocked and honestly a little ticked off. Rose and I had set up ahead of time for her to meet us at the restaurant. She wanted to apologize to everyone on neutral ground and perhaps talk with Emmett. Rose was trying to take the steps to make things right. And, yeah, I kind of blamed Vicky for getting in the way. Though, I didn't realize I was giving her the evil eye, until Jasper pointed it out. I didn't really mean to do that.

Ok, maybe that one time I meant it. But she was monopolizing the conversation. Instead of giving anyone else a chance to talk, she'd listen to an answer and just keep going and going. Not that Bella and Edward noticed, they were too busy in their little bubble world where they just grin and blush at each other. Oh, but I did. Even Jasper rolled his eyes when she started talking about her good friend Laurent, who we don't even know and his gay man-whoring ways of late. I also noticed when she did that little maneuver to give Emmett a shot of her cleavage. The girl thinks she was sneaky and cleaver, but I saw it.

_Deep breaths, Alice._ I remind myself. What is meant to be; will be. And once Rose talks to Emmett, he will make an informed decision. And as I promised both Jasper and Edward after they confronted me Sunday morning, I will respect whatever Emmett decides. Even if it is the wrong choice in my mind.

**EPOV**

Sunday morning, after church, Jasper and I cornered Alice and asked her why she was so cold to Victoria the night before. She explained that she didn't realize she was that bad, she didn't know she was glaring and that she was just upset because her plans were thwarted. Whatever she meant by that.

After that, Jasper got permission from my Dad to take Alice out without a chaperone, I called Charlie and he also said I was excused from chaperoned dates. Bella, he said, came home happy and glowing. So, he wasn't as worried. He explained that before, he was being cautious because of Bella's fragile emotional state and the fact that she is extremely shy. After giving me his permission, he took his time reminding me that he owned several guns and a badge. I gulped nervously, told him that I did in fact remember that and thanked him for the honor of taking out his daughter.

Bella. _Sigh._ Oh, shit! I'm turning into Alice.

After our group date, I knew that I wanted to keep going out with her. Behind that scared girl that her Mother had created, was a wonderful young woman. Bright, funny - when she got the nerve to joke - and beautiful! Her beauty was in both body and soul.

And when she bites that bottom lip. _Damn_. I can't suppress my horny teenage boy groan.

My cell phone blaring _The Streak _by Ray Stevens alerted me to the fact Emmett was calling.

"What's up?" I say upon picking up.

"Dude, you are lame." He laughs.

"Did you just call here to throw insults at me?" I ask perplexed. Generally, Emmett usually explains why, at this point in time, I am lame in his mind.

"Did you know that Vicky had to explain to Bella that you had asked her on a date? Dude, she thought you were inviting her out to a group gathering."_ What?_

"Seriously?" I thought I asked her out the right way. I remember asking '_Bella, will you go out with me?'_ Or was that just in my head and something else came out of my mouth?

"Yep, though don't worry that pretty ginger head of yours too much. Bella seemed to be cool with going on a date with your lame ass, after Vicky cleaned up your mess." He starts laughing again.

"Well, I asked her out to Homecoming and she said 'yes'." I tell him bluntly, a little hurt that he's picking on me.

"That is almost a month away, douche, what are you doing between now and then? Alice called Bella right after Jazz asked her out. He's taking her to some fancy restaurant, you know, something completely Alice."

"Shit." I mumble. _Will Bella think Jasper likes Alice more than I like her because he's asked her out for a date already? But I asked her to Homecoming that has to count for something?_ Damnit!

"Oh, and Alice told her they have to go dress shopping in Seattle, for their Homecoming dresses." Double shit, Jazz has already asked Alice to Homecoming too. _Damn, this dating thing is more stressful that I thought it would be._

"I need to think." I'm still mumbling.

"Dude, you know I'm just telling you this so you don't mess up. And if you've decided to just be friends with Bella, let her know, gently." He says seriously.

"No, I want to go out with Bella, I'm just…" I trail off this time.

"You're still kind of new to dating, Edward. Tanya did all the asking when you were with her. All you did was file the restraining order when it was over." He laughs. "But remember Bella is basically new to everything, not just dating. You have to talk to her, she won't judge you or push you, trust me, kid. But you just can't expect her to know what you are talking about." Damnit! I hate it when Emmett makes sense.

"Ok, ok I get it." I grumble this time.

"Ok, Eddie boy, I gotta go. Red invited me over to dinner to meet the folks properly. So, umm… being late would most likely suck."

"Wait! She already has you meeting her parents?"

"Well, we've been friends for a while and I've met them before, it just wasn't formal. You know, like the guy taking her out on dates and shit like that, formal."

"Ahh, well, good luck with that." I laugh remembering the hell Dad and Charlie are putting Jasper and I through.

"Yeah, thanks for the support, DickWard." I laugh again and we say goodbye.

~0~

I pull Lola up to the Swan house and give myself a last minute pep talk before going and knocking at the door. Before I drove here, I had spent over two hours planning and hyping myself into coming over.

My plan?_ I'm going to woo Bella Swan._

"Edward." Charlie gives a semi grin and grunt when he answers the door. "Emmett is out with Vicky right now." He gives me this amused look. He's having way too much fun looking at the bouquet of flowers in my hands. "Though, I'm sure flowers are just his thing." He laughs.

"Charlie, is Bella here, sir?" I chose to ignore his teasing. My nerves were too shot to joke right now.

"She's out back with Noel. Go on, boy, but be careful, that's my baby girl. You hurt her and I'll introduce you to the end of my gun." Ahh yes, Charlie's reminding me again about impending death and pain should I hurt Bella. I get it Charlie, I really do.

"Noted, Charlie." I nod and head out back to find Bella.

Outside I watch as she and Noel run around the fenced yard. Noel is trying to catch Bella, her little legs running as hard as she can. Bella is running slow, so the pup can keep up. I hear her calling Noel her baby and telling her she can do anything and I know that these are words Bella probably never heard from her Mother. It breaks my heart that this sweet and loving girl was treated so badly the majority of her life thus far.

"Edward." She huffs slightly out of breath when she notices me.

"Bella." I smile greeting her. The flush on her cheeks is beautiful and my free hand twitches at my side wanting to touch it.

"Hi." She whispers cutely and blushes a little. My mind jerks and I shove the flowers towards her.

"These are for you." I say quickly.

"Thank you." She says just as quick, looking at me strangely.

"Carnations," She smiles.

"They're very pretty. Thank you, Edward."

"You are very welcome, Bella." Should I tell her that I spent twenty minutes on Google trying to find the perfect flower and color to give the right sentiments? The light red for the admiration I feel for her and all she has gone through, the white for my gratitude that she is trusting me and giving me a chance and the deep red to convey my growing affections for her. Would this scare her? Maybe one day I'll tell her. "Carnations are unpretentious and naturally beautiful, they reminded me of you."

"Really?" She asks with disbelief.

"Bella, I can't think of another girl who is as beautiful to _me_ as you. The other girls at school just try too hard. They hide their real selves behind too much eyeliner, too much lip gloss, too much makeup in general. Without all the bells and whistles you are ten times more beautiful to me than any of them."

"I think you're beautiful too." She says so quietly that I barely hear her. Though this gives me some hope and encouragement; that I'm not in this alone.

Finally, I decide that I need to get to the mission at hand. Man up, so to speak. I take a deep breath and remember Emmett's advice. Be direct, don't pussyfoot around. Last time I asked, she didn't even realize I was doing it, this time I was leaving her with no question of it.

"I'd like to take you out on a date, Bella, some nice place. Just the two of us." I sigh and look into her shocked, yet beautiful brown eyes. "No friends and no siblings. Just you and I. Someplace you'll wear a dress, I'll put on a suit and loud pop music won't be blaring over us while we try to eat. Where we can talk and get to know each other better."

"You want to go out on another date?" She asks shyly, looking up through her lashes, biting on that plump bottom lip.

"Yes, I want to go out on a date. But not just with anyone, I want to go out with _you_." Direct and to the point.

"Ok." She agrees quickly.

"Next Saturday night?" She nods and the most breathtaking smile takes over her face.

~0~

School, this past week, has been a bitch. Yes, I got to see Bella and my friends but the anticipation for Saturday kept building and building. I just want everything to be perfect. And to add onto the stress of trying to plan the perfect date, I had to deal with my stalker. Tanya.

Tanya cornered me Monday to find out why I was out on a date with Bella. She cornered me on Tuesday to try and get me to take her out. I avoided her on Wednesday and Thursday, thankfully. However, on Friday, she got close enough to grab my junk! Literally! I am now eternally grateful to Rosalie who pulled Tanya off of me and my poor balls that I pray didn't suffer any long-term damage due to the hard squeeze that my psycho of an ex had put on them.

Tonight, it was yellow roses. _Friendship with the promise of more._

"Hey, Edward. Bella is almost ready." Emmett says when he answers the door.

"Shouldn't you let her know I'm here?" I say with a nervous chuckle. Em had gone and plopped back down in front of the TV.

"Bella, Edward's here!" He yells from his spot. Not thirty seconds later a vision in deep purple came bustling down the stairs.

"Hi." I greet gently.

"Hi." She responds shyly.

"For you." I hand her the yellow roses and she beams at me.

"Thank you."

"Home by eleven." Emmett says out of nowhere.

"What?" I pull out of my Bella haze to get him to explain.

"Dad said to have her home by eleven. It's only five, Eddie boy, that's long enough for a date." He rolls his eyes then winks at Bella who giggles softly.

"No problem." I tell him then look back into pools of chocolate. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." She says as she nods.

It's a decent night for early fall, so Bella just slips on a light black sweater, instead of her jacket before we go. I lightly grasp her hand and walk her to my car. Opening the door, I help her in and she thanks me with a smile and a blush. After getting myself into the car, I turn my IPod on to soothing music, also known as classical. Bella hums her approval. I've noticed before that she seems to enjoy it almost as much as I do. I try to pick a topic in my head to get my sweet shy girl talking.

"So, I guess you're wondering why we left so early?"

"Umm… it hadn't really crossed my mind." She says in a sweet tone.

"I'm surprised. Emmett has been hounding me all week saying that date time is after seven in the evening. I figured he might have said something to you about it."

"He didn't say anything to me about it." She looks puzzled. "This song is beautiful." She says out of the blue.

"It's Adagio in G minor, it was composed by Remo Giazotto. It's labeled as a neo-baroque composition." I say automatically and she looks intrigued. "I've never studied music, what is neo-baroque?" "Basically it barrows a lot of the style elements from baroque works, yet is a more modern work. If we can consider nineteen fifty eight modern." I say with a laugh. "You seem to love…" she trails off biting her bottom lip thinking, I assume. "Love?" I prod. "Classical music." She says. "I do, I love music in general. However, classical music has a strong hold on my heart. When I was younger around five or six my great Aunt Jem, short for Jemma lived with us for a brief time. I didn't know it then, but Dad took her in because he was medically qualified and she was in between "facilities" I guess you could say. Aunty Jem was kicked out of more old folks' homes and convalescent homes than I can count. It was a family joke for years. Her Irish temper and feisty ways were a legend in those circles." I smile at the memory. "Well, anyways, Aunty Jem would sit with me and play on the piano for hours. She would go on and on about the depravity and lack of work that goes into modern music. We really bonded over the few months she was with us and even when she went to her new assisted living facility, I would still play. Twice a month, Mom would drive me to Seattle where Aunty Jem and I would play on the piano my parents donated to the facility, just for that purpose. She died four years ago at the ripe old age of a hundred and two. She was buried with her copy of a composition that she and I wrote together, just as her will asked." I smile, yet feel a little melancholy remembering the old Dame who was so important to my life. "She sounds wonderful." Bella tells me with a smile in her voice. "When I was little, I always wanted a grandparent or someone older like that to do things with. I'd hear the kids at school talking about Grandma and Grandpa doing this with them or that with them and I wanted that. I hated it when as we all got older, you only heard more and more about how Grandma or Grandpa bought this or that for them and that was the only reason they went to their houses. Didn't they understand what they had?" She says fiercely, with bitterness laden through her tone. "Probably not, baby. The old adage, 'You don't know what you got, till it's gone', is very true when it comes to grandparents and sometimes even our parents. The guy with the Mom who babies him and gives him her undivided attention often takes it for granted until it's taken away or threatened. The little girl who has her Daddy wrapped around her finger often only thinks of what she can get away with or get from him, until Daddy is no longer there." I shake my head sadly. "It's so sad." She whispers. Then out of nowhere, my sweet, shy girl says, "People can suck." Of course after this outburst she turns red in the face and tries to hide behind her beautiful chestnut locks. "I agree." I say laughing. She looks at me then and we both laugh. It's freeing and it helps to kill some of the awkwardness that was hanging above us. "Do you like Italian?" I ask, I really should have asked before making the reservations I guess. "Yes." She smiles. "I'm not really picky." "Good." _Though,_ _I guess with being under-fed most of your life, you wouldn't be._ We travel the rest of the way to Port Angeles chatting about classes. Bella also tells me of how Forks High ranks as the best school in terms of people that she has ever been to. I'm happy that she feels this way and I tell her that. Once we arrive, I find the parking lot easily and walk around to get Bella out of the car. She smiles and takes my hand. I hold it as I walk over to the booth beside the dock.

"Reservation?" The older man asks looking us over.

"Edward Cullen, party of two." I say firmly, knowing that often times the older people would question whether or not I was a kid joking around when it came to the more expensive things in life.

"Alright, Mr. Cullen, your guest name?"

"Isabella Swan." He marks it down and takes my credit card, his eye raises at the black Amex.

"Can I see some ID?" _Asshole_! I pull out my driver's license and hand it to him. He grunts and I try not to look smug. He shoves my ID and card back at me. "Your boat is loading in ten minutes. You can wait over there with the others in the holding area. Drinks are on the house. _Non_-_alcoholic_, of course." He says with a nasty smirk.

"Of course." I say back, using my snottiest voice. I don't use it often but the asstard deserved it.

"Boat?" Bella asks with awe in her voice.

"Yeah, it's a dinner cruise. We drift around Port Angeles Harbor up to Dungeness Bay, while we enjoy a gourmet Italian dinner." _And you my beautiful Bella can't look at the menu and see prices, it's all paid for in advance_. "They have live music, some dancing and my Mom says the chocolate cheese cake is the best part." I smile as she giggles.

"I've never eaten on a boat before, actually I've never been on a boat period." Shyly she looks up after telling me this.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll keep you safe."

"Ok." She smiles again and my whole night is made.

After waiting around fifteen minutes in the holding area, Bella and I boarded the white yacht style boat and claimed our seats. Her excited smile was too cute when she saw we were sitting right next to the railing, best seats in the house. We listened to the music and talked about random things. Bella was completely fascinated and worried about Emmett's obsession with MTV reality shows. She worried that he was going to rot his brain, yet she was fascinated that he could sit for so many hours watching mindless programming without getting bored.

I told her a little about Alice's obsession with Jasper and how when she was eleven she rode her bike all the way to his house because he stayed home sick from school and she just knew she was the only one who could make him better. She awed at that then laughed when I told her that Jasper was in fact not sick, but was having a guys day with his Dad playing video games and eating junk food. Alice had been one pissed little girl. She screamed about the boy who cried wolf and how he should have told her he was okay. Jasper, feeling bad apologized and even road with his Dad to take her home. Needless to say, Mom and Dad grounded her for a week and took away the bike for a month.

"Dance with me?" I ask after we finish our main course.

"I'm not sure how." She explains biting her lip again.

"Trust me." I wink and hold out my hand to her. Hesitantly, she places her much smaller hand in mine and I lead her out onto the dance floor.

She looks around at the other couples and sees how they are dancing and takes a step closer to me. I smile, wrap one arm around her waist, take her right hand in my left and begin to slowly sway back and forth. Our feet are unmoving, because I'm not sure she is up to that yet, but still we are dancing. Softly, I whisper to her the instructions for a basic box step and ask if she wants to try. She nods gently and while my toes get crushed more than once, by the end of the third song, she seems to have it down. She giggles when I praise her and blushes when I tell her that she is beautiful and even more so in the glow of the sunset. As the sun sets further the white twinkle lights begin to come on. It's romantic and sets a mood without a word passing between us, we feel the shift. She gently lays her head against my shoulder and we lightly sway some more, her head against my shoulder, my arms around her waist. I've never felt more at peace than I did at this moment.

The spell is soon broken, when others start to go back to their seats. Bella and I do the same, each getting a desert. I went for the lava cake and Bella took my Mom's advice and went for the chocolate cheese cake. We each take a bite of the other's, swearing that the one we have is better. She refused to concede that my chocolate pit of goodness was better than her old cheese cake.

After desert, we dance a little while longer, till the boat is pulling back up to dock for the next group I assume. We had spent three hours at sea in a blissful bubble. She had been more open than I'd ever seen her before. Her cute laughs had rung out more freely and frequently than normal. I felt pride in myself as a man for being able to do that for her. To her.

More quickly than I'd like, we are back at Bella's, with twenty minutes to go till her curfew. We had talked the whole ride home about the cruise, about plans for the next day. Bella and Emmett were going to be joining us at church in the morning and then have lunch at our house, since Charlie was on duty the whole day.

"Thank you." Her sweet voice fills my ears as I walk her to the door. "I had an amazing time."

"I did too, Bella. Best date ever." I promise her.

"Yes." She agrees. I know that I will try to top this one, so that she can continue to have the best dates ever. My girl deserves the best after getting the short end of the 'Mother' stick for almost sixteen years.

"Bella, can I kiss you goodnight?" She nods and blushes again. I love her blush.

Slowly, I lower my head and place my lips against hers. I apply gentle pressure moving slowly against her plump lips. She moves her lips against mine and I smile into the kiss. I suck her bottom lip gently into my mouth and she sighs. Soon, our soft kiss heats up, she applies more pressure and I feel emboldened. I lick her bottom lip and try to slip my tongue into her mouth only to have Bella freak and bite my tongue. She jumps back and her eyes are huge.

"Bwa, I srwy." I try to say.

"Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry, I just didn't know that would happen." She groans embarrassed and reaches over to hug me.

"It's ok." I mumble around my swollen tongue. "Tomorrow?" I think I say it right.

"If you still want to see me after I did that." Her voice is filled with self-hate.

"Baby, it's ok." My b's still sound more like w's though.

"Bella, are you coming in tonight?" Charlie interrupts opening the door.

"Yes." She looks at me fear and pleading in her eyes. "Tomorrow?" She repeats my question.

"Tomorrow." I say firmly. I wave goodnight to Charlie and head home to ice my tongue.

**BPOV**

_Note to self, Google kissing._

**AN2**:**Edward says he worked hard on that date so if you could find it in your hearts to review, he'd really appreciate it. And so would I. Really all the reviews inspire me to keep writing, and I need all the inspiration I can get with a newborn lol.**

**The date outfits are on the blog.**

**Just a little heads up: Next chapter we are going to be seeing another bit of Bella's past. Many people have asked when Rose's reveal is coming that is going to come out by chapter 22. **

**Some recs just add the fanfiction (dot) net to them: **

**Sway /s/5362427/1/ *one of the best out there that doesn't get enough love***

**Strings /s/5683107/1/**

**Under the Apple Tree /s/5942388/1/**

**Tides of Fate /s/5031275/1/**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Thanks again to TwiDi, the Super Beta for cleaning up this mess. Her story You Don't Know Anything is awesome and her Edward is hot, go read it people ;0)! **

******IMPORTANT**** This chapter deals with abuse, if you have triggers you might want to avoid the part in italics, pm me and I will give you a short synopsis if you want it if you have to skip it. **

**There is a longer a/n at the bottom so you can get on with the chapter :0) **

**Bella's POV**

"Did you have a good time, sweetheart?" Charlie asks as I come in the house.

"Yes." I tell him, trying to hold back the happy giggle that wants to break free. Edward is amazing. I can't believe he took me on such a grown up date. I had been expecting McDonalds or something like that. The places I had overheard other girls at school talk about. But, no; Edward picked the perfect date.

"Alright, baby girl, why don't you head on up to bed it's late." I smile and nod.

"Goodnight, Charlie." I say softly and he smiles back.

"Goodnight, sweetheart, sleep well."

Getting into my room, I load up my laptop while I get ready for bed. After coming back from brushing my teeth I load up the Google website. Since getting on the internet, I have come to find _Google_ is a wonderful thing. However, the first results when looking up 'kissing' was a link to Wikipedia which didn't tell me anything. Well... it _does_, but it was just a history of kissing and how guys in Slavic countries mouth kissed in a non-sexual way. It's so freaking confusing. Moving on from there, I click on the wikihow article called _How to French Kiss_ and got even more confused. Do I need to 'by a tongue' stimulator? And five speeds? Huh.

I really just want to know what to do if Edward ever tries to stick his tongue in my mouth again. Biting him has to be one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done. And this is me we are talking about, so that is saying a lot. Maybe I should just ask Alice? But wouldn't it be weird to ask her about kissing that involves tongues, if I plan on doing that with her brother? _Plan_? What if he never asks me out again? What if I have completely messed up? Are we dating? Is he my boyfriend? Are we just friends? Ok, I need to stop watching romantic comedies with Alice. That last one '_He's Just Not That Into You'_, keeps playing through my mind. Frustrated, I turn off the computer and crawl into bed. Rome wasn't built in a day, I remind myself. I will figure this out. Or at least next time, if there _is_ a next time, I won't bite his tongue.

~0~

Sunday, I spent the afternoon helping Esme cook dinner and watching the boys play video games. I tried to play too, but after my character died for the fifth time in a row, I gave up. Alice tried to play too, but when she hit Edward over the head with a controller and threatened to _de-man_ Emmett if he didn't stop shooting at her; the boys banned her from playing. She was a little too competitive for them. After we ate, Alice received a phone call and retreated to her room to talk. When I went up there to say goodbye before we left, Alice seemed off. Almost like she'd rather not talk to me. Honestly, it worried me and I spent the night tossing and turning, thinking that she no longer wanted to be friends.

Monday at school, Alice was talking my head off, so my fears that she no longer wanted to be friends subsided. I had been worried that somehow she'd decided that I wasn't worth the effort to be friends with. Someone not quite normal. Someone with so much _baggage_... I'm so glad she still wants to be my bff. Tuesday, Alice asked me if I wanted to go shopping for Homecoming dresses with her this weekend. I thought it was a little early, but she explained to me that the good dresses go quickly and we needed to snatch them up. So, I told her I needed to ask Charlie's permission. She told me he'd say 'yes'. And she was right. So now, we have plans for a day in Seattle on Saturday with Esme to buy dresses.

Wednesday, Edward asked me if I would spend Sunday afternoon with him, I quickly agreed. He gave me his heart stopping smile and held my hand in the school hallway as he walked me to my next class. To thank him for asking me out again, I baked him banana nut muffins. Edward seems to like my cooking and I like him. So, if my cooking makes him happy, I'll do it for him often.

Thursday, Edward, Alice, Vicky and Jasper came over after school. We ordered pizza - even though I offered to cook - and watched movies. I was a little uncomfortable about the display Vicky put on when she was trying to get us to watch her favorite movie _Knocked Up_. She pouted and crawled into Emmett's lap and kept saying 'please, Emmie'. It was weird. But in the end we watched that movie and then the first _Transformers_, because according to the boys it is the shit.

Friday, Lauren Mallory hit me with her tennis racket in the back of my knee. She said it was an accident. Alice said we should rename her _Tanya_ _Harding_. I had no idea what she was talking about; and once again, made a mental note to Google it, rather than look slow by asking. After finding out what happened, Edward turned red in the face and glared at Lauren across the parking lot. I put my hand on his arm and he seemed to calm down. Edward came over after school and helped me ice my knee. That time I didn't bite his tongue.

~0~

Saturday started out well enough. I woke up early and made sure that Emmett and Charlie had breakfast waiting for them. I left the instructions on how to heat up the pancakes properly, so they got a decent hot meal. After that, I showered and dressed, then climbed into the backseat of Esme's car when she and Alice came to pick me up. Alice was in the back seat behind me. And since it was so early, Esme encouraged us to go back to sleep.

I was a little shocked when a few hours later we were pulling into Seattle and I had actually fallen asleep in the car. We made it to the Northgate Mall and Esme insisted on going to Macy's first. It was where I found my dress. The dress was cute, it covered where I needed to be covered and it actually made me feel pretty. It was three stores later before Alice found her dress. Esme then treated us all to manicures, followed up by the big pretzels they carry in the mall kiosks.

"Girls, are you ready to head home?" Esme asks us sweetly. I nod and Alice agrees with a smile.

"Yes, we've got everything we need and I want to see my Jazzy today." She still sighs whenever she says Jasper's name, it's cute.

We follow Esme out to the parking lot and go in search of the car. Unfortunately, it was in a different row than we thought. Just as we were going to get into the car, a loud voice drew my attention. "I told you to get in this fucking car. How stupid are you?" The voice was female and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"But, Mom..." The voice of a girl fills the air.

"_But_ _Mom,_ nothing! I've spent too much fucking money on you today. Get your ass into this car right now."

The weight of the memory was crushing my mind, body and soul. I can feel my knees buckle as the memory takes over

... _Flash back..._

_Renee received a call from school today asking if I was showing any signs of an eating disorder at home. They had noticed my weight loss I guess. Renee had once again decided that I was fat and I was put on a diet. So, other than lunch at school, where I got something warm with my free lunch card, I was lucky to get a sandwich at home for dinner. Renee needed to keep up appearances though, she was dating the vice principle of my school and she had hopes this one would marry her. She told me if he did, she'd send me to live somewhere else, because who the hell really wanted me around anyways._

_"Get in the car, Isabella." She demanded and I did. _

_We were going to the grocery store. She mentioned something about buying lots of high carbs to fatten my ugly ass up some._ _After riding in her beat-up old car to the store, she drags me in, her hand a little too tight on my wrist. Not that I can complain, she'll just make it tighter. Once inside she pulls out a buggy and makes me push it, with a threat that if I wander off, I'll spend the night in the dark. She walks the store at a fast pace, tossing things in the cart. At the checkout, she pulls out her food stamp card and pays. Though she has to pay cash for the beer she bought._

_ We get back outside and Renee opens the trunk so I can load the bags into it. Going back around to the passenger side door, I go to pull it open but it won't budge. Renee yells for me to get in the damn car. Knowing that sometimes the door sticks, I pull harder only to slip and fall on the asphalt. Pain shoots through me; and I can't pull myself back up right away. Renee gets out of the car and walks around._

_"I told you to get in the car, not make a fucking spectacle out of yourself."_

_"I'm sorry." I whisper._

_"Shut up, no one wants to hear your whiney voice, Isabella. Get in the fucking car." She jerks me up off the ground, her hand wrapping hard around my wrist that was sore from trying to break my fall. I think it might be sprained; it wouldn't be the first time. I must have made a noise, because she turns and glares at me. "When we get home, Isabella..." She trails off, the open threat scaring me. I know what she is capable of. _

_She pulls me to the car door and unlocks it, then shoves me in. The reason it hadn't budged, the reason I was now in pain, is because Renee hadn't unlocked the door, yet expected me to get into the car._ _When we arrive back at the apartment building, where the one bedroom apartment that we are currently reside in is located, Renee informs me that I have ten minutes to get all the groceries in the house and put away. Thankfully, we only live on the second floor. Our last apartment was located on the tenth floor. I hurry and it takes two trips to get everything. It's all put away, but from the gleam on Renee's face, I know it took me more than ten minutes._

_"Fourteen minutes and twenty seven seconds. Isabella, even an idiot like you has to know that that was more than ten minutes." She glares at me and a shiver goes down my spine. "Ever since the day you were conceived you've done nothing but cause me problems. Go sit in front of the sofa." _

_I do as she says and pray that it will be quick._ _It takes her a few minutes before she comes in. I can smell the beer. She prefers a stronger drink and blames me that she can't afford it. I've been told many times that I am the reason she is trapped in this poverty stricken existence; that if she had just had an abortion, her life would have been so much better._ _My breath is stole from me when she suddenly wraps her hand into my hair and jerks my head back. Her knee goes into my back. She is simultaneously pulling my head backwards while she pushes my body forwards. She twines the fingers of her other hand into the small hairs on the back of my neck and pulls. Tears well up in my eyes._

_"You, stupid little bitch, when are you going to learn to behave?" She snarls._

_"I'm sorry, I'll be better." I promise._

_"How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up! Your voice grates on my last nerve." She pulls one last time hard before getting up. "Stay here, move an inch and you'll be severely punished." _

_I know this means the knife. The heated knife. She uses it in the same couple of spots, making sure it's out of sight. That my clothing will always hide it._ _I hear the sounds of water rushing and I wonder what she is going to do now. My back and head are throbbing from Renee's painful ministrations and all I want to do is move because my butt has gone numb from sitting on this cold hard floor for so long._

_"Alright, Isabella, go get in the tub. You fell on that nasty ground, I don't want you catching anything." Renee says. We both know why she doesn't want me catching anything, she'd have to take care of me._ _I do as she says and go into the bathroom, removing my clothes before stepping into and jumping right back out of out of the ice cold tub. The water was frigid._ _"I said get in the tub." She tells me from the doorway._

_"It's so cold." I tell her softly._

_"Hot water costs money. Get in the tub!" I do as she says shivering and wishing I could be anywhere but here. "Wash your hair, it has stuff in it from the ground." She demands. "If I hear the faucet come on, you're sleeping in the dark tonight." She warns before storming out of the bathroom._

_I do as Renee orders and grab the bottle of shampoo to wash my hair. I just want to hurry up and get out of this tub of water. My teeth chatter as I lather up my hair. I lean backwards to rinse it out, my eyes close so the soap and water don't run into my eyes. Suddenly, I feel something pushing me under. The water is covering my face and terrified I open my eyes, the water stings as does the remnants of soap. Through it, I see Renee holding me down. My air is starting to run out and I thrash around, slapping at her hands. Though a little thought in the back of mine wonders if I do die, will it be better than where I am now? Without warning, Renee jerks me up and I gasp for breath._

_"Just remember you, little bitch, I brought you into this world and any fucking time I want, I can take you out."_

_End Flashback..._

I could hear both noises and voices in the background. My mind feels like I'm in a fog. I can't really get a grip on what is being said around me. My right arm is sore and when I try to move it, it hurts worse.

"Be careful, Bella, you don't want to knock the I.V. out." Alice's voice comes in clear beside my head, her hand, or at least what I am assuming is her hand stills the movement of my arm. "Don't worry, Bella, you're safe." She whispers.

"Umm..." I try to form a thought, something to say or ask, but my mind can't seem to get there yet.

"Bella!" I hear Esme Cullen's voice but don't see her. She soon is in my line of sight, though a sad smile on her face. "How are you feeling, dear?" She asks in her kind tones.

"Confused." Good. I finally got a thought out.

"Oh, sweetie, you had a sever panic attack. Your breathing got so erratic that you blacked out. An ambulance was called and that's why you are here. The doctor gave you something to calm you down and they hooked you up to an I.V. drip, you were mildly dehydrated. And it was easier to give you any medications you needed with the drip hooked up." She explains.

"Oh." I reply, still trying to wrap my mind around this. I feel ill, yet at ease, as fresh memories of my ten year old self fill my mind.

"Your Dad and Carlisle are almost here to bust you out though." She jokingly tells me and I'm horrified that I've caused so much trouble.

"Why are they coming? Am I in trouble?" I can't help as these questions slip through my lips.

"Sweet child, you are not in trouble. The hospital will only release you to your legal guardian. And Carlisle is listed as your primary care physician, so he's coming along just in case of." Her explanation gives me some peace, but I still worry that I will be in trouble. And I feel bad that I'm putting all of them out.

"Bella, stop thinking like that. I can read your face. If it were one of us, wouldn't you be there to take care of us?" Alice demands and I nod, knowing it's true. "So, let us do the same for you."

"Ok." I concede out loud, yet still can't let go of how I feel.

"Bella, are you ok?" Charlie asks as he burst into the room.

"Yes. Can we go home now?" I plead. He sucks in a breath and looks at me before a huge smile over takes his face.

"Yes, baby girl, we can go home now."

**Emmett's POV **

"So, what exactly happened?" Edward demanded from Alice as we sat in the living room at my house. Dad was in the kitchen with Esme and Carlisle, while Bella was tucked up in her bed. She looked so frail and tired when they had come in through the doors. Dad was carrying her and she was so out of it that she didn't complain.

"I don't know, Edward, one minute we were all happy and laughing, the next she was curled up beside the car saying she was sorry, over and over again." Alice sobs. The memory seemed to be breaking her down.

"Edward, Alice it's time to go home." Carlisle informs them as he walks into the living room. "Bella should sleep through the night and I think everyone has had enough excitement for one day."

We say our goodbyes and Alice tucks up into Carlisle's arms. I can tell this is hitting her hard. Hell, it's hitting all of us hard. I wish I had gone with them, maybe there was something I could have done to stop this. Whatever the hell this was.

"Dad?" I question Charlie as soon as it's just the two of us alone.

"Esme's not sure, but she thinks Bella overheard a woman scolding a child and it caused the panic attack." He says in a low voice. "The hospital in Seattle wanted to keep her for seventy two hour observation. Thank God I brought Carlisle with me, his credentials are the only reason she was able to leave tonight. The doctors were worried she was having a psychotic episode." He shakes his head.

"Damn." I draw out slowly.

"Yeah." He agrees. We both know my 'damn' meant 'this is a fucked up situation'.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"We're going to start pushing therapy. Gently." I nod.

"I think we all know who can talk her into it."

"Edward." We say in unison.

~0~

Sunday morning, it rained. If this wasn't Forks, I would have taken it as an omen. Bella and I stayed home from church. She was still groggy from the drugs. I stayed to make sure she was ok. Edward showed up around two and dashed up to her room, not long after, they left together. Edward giving me the look that said clearly 'She needs this, don't question me.' At least that's how I took it. An hour later, my doorbell rang. My stomach flipped and I worry that it might be something to do with Bella. I rush to the door and fling it open.

"Rosalie?" I'm completely stunned.

"Hey, Em." She shifts nervously in a very un-Rose like manner. "Can I come in?" She asks hesitantly.

"Yeah, of course." I open the door wider to let her in.

"So, umm..." She starts then stops.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I ask. This awkward moment is painful and I'm trying to get us past it.

"Water?"

"Water it is." I walk to the fridge and pull out a bottle of water. "Here you go." I say handing it to her.

"Thanks." She almost whispers. "So." Yeah, that was about all I had. "Emmett, we need to talk." Her voice slightly stronger.

"About?" I ask, wondering what is going on.

"I want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you everything."

**AN2: If you kill me you won't get the next chapter :0) just saying. Chapter 21 is almost complete, if the reviews blow me away *no set amount just move me ;0)* then I will work my ass off so that I can have it posted by Friday at the latest, if not you'll have to wait till next week Tuesday, *I'm trying to make this my regular posting day now* to find out what happens. And a little hint the Rose reveal is next chapter. **

**The link to the Twilighted Thread for this story is on my profile. If you have a question, want to discuss theories, want exclusive teasers please join us there. I'm going to be taking a bunch of the most faqs and post some answers there sometime this week. **

**Since I am fail at review replies, which I know makes me a bad writer, I'm sorry about that, I've decided to do a little thank you for your reviews. So I'm writing outtakes to post when we hit certain mile markers, should we ever hit them. These things will all be discussed in the story, the o/t just have more depth to them. At 1500 reviews I will post the the o/t of what Charlie and Carlisle's plan to deal with Renee was 1750, the o/t of Alice and Jasper's first time. 2000 *if we ever hit it* o/t of when Charlie met Renee, so you get that back story, including what the blackmail was. If you have an idea for an outtake you'd like to see, put it in your review and I'll start picking out the most popular one's to look at for future o/t.**

**_For victims of domestic abuse you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at _1-800-799-SAFE(7233).**

**_If you need help or have questions about child abuse or child neglect, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at _1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).**

**One of Bella's sources: How to French Kiss http:/www(dot)wikihow(dot)com/French-Kiss**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Thanks again to TwiDi, for cleaning up this mess. Her story You Don't Know Anything is awesome and it is up for a Silent Tear award. **

**SURPRISE! I said blow me away and I'd have it by Friday and it's Thursday ;0) can you tell you blew me away? This chapter isn't fluffy and light either, so this is your warning it deals with some deep issues. This whole story is planned out, I've known from day one what happened to all of them, I'm sorry if any of you are disappointed by what happened to Rose, this is how I always saw it happening. **

**I would love to send some love to my Twi-thread girls, I love you all, you are great support and keep me laughing. Love to my Twitter girls, you all rock and help talk me down when a bad review makes my hormonal ass want to toss my stories out the window and give up writing, thank you all. To Rachelle_MyBell thank you so much for all your support and for the kick ass blog design, love ya bb. And RingTheBella thanks for pimping me out on the find a fic thread over at Twilighted! **

**More note at the bottom.**

**BPOV**

My headache was finally easing off, and Noel was curled up with me watching TV in my bedroom. Charlie had brought me breakfast in bed. It was sweet and slightly burnt. It meant the world to me that he did it though. I was glad he left the room and didn't watch me eat. The sausage was so chewy even Noel wouldn't eat it. That was hours ago; and my grumbling tummy was telling me it was time to eat again. _If I could just talk myself out of bed._

I blame yesterday for today's lethargy. While yesterday had started off so great, it had ended up with me in the hospital. I've had a panic attack before. I know this because one time I had one so bad at school that they'd sent me to the hospital because they thought I was having a heart attack. I had never blacked out before though. Knowing that it is a possibility and that it had happened is scary.

I held back from telling everyone about the vivid memory of Renee and I that day when I was barely ten years old. I wish I could forget all about her. I wish the nightmares would stop. I wish I could just forget that life with Renee had ever existed.

As if sensing my internal sadness, Noel licks my face before bounding over to pick up her stuffed bear, bringing it over for me to play with her. I run it over the bed and she chases it giving little playful growls. A soft knock on my door interrupts our play and Noel gives a small ruff. I love her little bark.

"Hey, sleepy head, are you awake yet?" I hear Edward tease through the door.

"Yes." I reply, a huge smile overtaking my face. Glad for my sweat pants and t-shirt, I walk over and open the door. Edward pulls me in for a warm hug and I melt into him.

"So, I've come to kidnap you." He tells me, then kisses my forehead. "Do you want to change first or stay in your sweats? I mean, you look fine to me and we aren't going anywhere dressy."

"I'm fine." I tell him honestly.

"Well, let's roll." He jokes grabbing my hand. Noel looks sad, but maybe next time - if there is a next time - we'll take her with us.

I wave a small 'goodbye' to Emmett as we leave. He and Edward have some kind of weird facial exchange. I've come to realize boys are just weird. They could be saying anything from, 'Where are you going?' to 'Bring back beef patties,' with just one look.

~0~

We ended up at the Cullen family home. Edward explaining to me that Alice was spending the day with Jasper. His Mom and Dad had gone up to Port Angeles for a date day. So, we were going to be alone. He suggested we grab some snacks then head down to the game room to hang out. Edward made these little tiny pizza rolls and mozzarella sticks, while I watched. He joked that he was finally showing me his mad cooking skills. I couldn't help but laugh at how silly he was acting. He put this fake Julia Child (we watched the movie Julie and Julia not too long ago) accent on and was using it for every step he took. He started with, "first we open de bag, den we pour it onto the cookie sheet."

After the food was done, we went downstairs and Edward turned the TV on. Some channel was having a marathon of Edward's favorite show, House. It was ok. The doctor was a little mean, reminding me of some doctors I've met before; uncaring and just cold. But it was fascinating how many diseases are out there. Edward pulled me close, wrapping an arm around me, my head leaning against his shoulder and we stayed cuddling and I loved it!

"Bella, do you want to talk about what happened yesterday? No pressure, baby, just know I'm here if you need me. I won't judge and I won't tell anyone else what you say." He promises, his hand running up and down my arm, soothing me.

"I'm not sure…" I hesitate.

"Baby, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Just sometimes it helps to tell someone. My Mom always says 'a trouble told is a trouble halved'; which makes the burden on you less and a solution quicker to find, since two minds work better than one."

"I don't want to burden you." I tell him.

"Listen, Bella," He turns us where we are facing each other, his hand on my cheek now, "you are _not_ a burden, nor would you burden me if you _shared_ this with me. You are my special girl, whom I adore and you have made my life better just by letting me know you. You've lived in hell for so many years and still are able to be sweet and loving. I don't know anyone else with more reason to be bitchy and hateful. Yet, your compassionate and sweet nature is genuine and honest. Isabella Swan, I want to share your problems, your fears and your happy times. I want you to share mine as well. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't want both the good and the bad with you?"

"Boyfriend?" I repeat, but it comes out as a question.

"Will you let me be your boyfriend? Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" I nod excitedly. He wants to be my boyfriend, he said he adores me.

"Yes." I adore him too. Should I tell him? He wants to share the good and the bad. "I umm… adore you too." I almost whisper. He leans forward and kisses my lips gently.

"Do you want to talk about it, baby?" I hesitate then nod. I'm not sure if this is the best idea, but if Edward wants my 'bad', he might as well know exactly what he is asking for.

"I was enjoying my day with your Mom and sister. When we headed to the car to go home, I heard a woman and a little girl fighting. Then suddenly, I was trapped in my past." I hesitate one more time. Then I go on and tell him the details of my flashback. His face pinches up and I stop. But he tells me to continue. When I finish, he asks me how old was I when it happened; and I tell him. He looks so sad and suddenly he crushes me to him holding me tight.

"I will never let her near you again, baby. You are safe now." He promises.

"She haunts me in my sleep." I don't know why I whisper that, but I do.

"When Alice and I were children, my Mom took us on a trip to Chicago. She had a well-known talk-show host as a client there; and she figured Alice and I would enjoy seeing someplace new. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. And there I got separated from Mom and Alice by accident. I saw a man trying to take a little girl, I was only eight, but I knew it was wrong. She was struggling, so I ran over to help her, screaming at him 'no'. He turned to glare at me and said 'Two for one' and tried to take me too. The girl and I kept struggling and he pulled a gun out.

"An off duty police officer saw what was happening and came over to help us. He fought the guy and the gun went off. The cop had been able to turn it towards the abductor, so he shot him and killed him. For months afterwards I had nightmares that the man was able to get away with it. I would jump whenever a loud noise went off, reacting to the gun shot. The last straw was when my parents discovered me sleeping on the floor of Alice's bedroom, my baseball bat beside me. They found out that I had been keeping guard over her at night to make sure no one tried to take her, like the man had the little girl."

"Oh, Edward." I whisper running my hand through his hair. He had always been a protector, I could see it in him now, as I had the first day I met him. No wonder I always felt safe with him. He pulls my hand out of his hair and kisses each of my fingers before going on with his story.

"Mom and Dad started taking me to a therapist. We talked things out and she gave me techniques that helped me greatly. Going to her really helped me out. Within a few months, my nightmares started going away and could sleep in my own bed. When I went to my last session, about a year and a half after I started therapy, Jane looked at me and said, 'Doesn't it feel good to win? To no longer be that man's victim?', and it was true, it felt damned good." I smile.

"I'm glad you beat him, Edward."

"I am too, Bella." He looks me deep in the eyes. "I think therapy might help you beat Renee, to stop her from haunting you."

"Edward, I can't afford therapy. And I don't think it would work. I mean, I know who I am. Renee told me many times that there was no help for me."

"You can afford therapy. Charlie has you on his health insurance, it will pay. And I think if you give it a chance, it will work. And Renee is _wrong_ and a lying bitch who has a special place in hell waiting for her. Will you give it a chance? Go to a couple sessions and see if it will help you like it helped me and so many others?" His green eyes were dazzling intense.

"Do you really think it will help me, Edward?" I was so tired of the nightmares, so tired of having to worry.

"I do, Bella."

"Will you…" I hesitate biting my lower lip. "Umm… will you _go_ with me?"

"Anything, baby, anything you need. I will drive you there then drive you home. I'll wait outside the room and if you need me I'll rush in." He promises pulling me close one more time. This time I hug him as tight as I can.

"I'll try it, Edward. If it's not going to cost Charlie anything."

"That's all I ask, is that you try."

~0~

"Charlie?" I say his name hesitantly coming into the living room. He's watching football, yelling at the guy on the TV to 'protect the damn quarterback'.

"Hey, sweetheart, how are you?" He looks up, his anger at the TV forgotten, a warm smile on his still handsome face.

"Umm… I was talking to Edward this afternoon and umm…" I can't help but hesitate, giving in once again to my habit of biting my lower lip when nervous. Will he be upset that I'm asking? Does the insurance _really_ cover this?

"What is it, baby girl?" He looks worried and I don't want him to worry. I like happy Charlie.

"Well, umm… Edward told me about some things from his past and…" I don't know if he knows and I don't want to betray Edward by telling him. "I was wondering if umm… do I really have health insurance?" I can't stop the spew of stupid coming out of my mouth. I mentally smack my forehead. That wasn't what I meant to say at all.

"Yes, you and Emmett both are covered within my policy at work." He looks confused as to why I would be asking this.

"Does it really cover _therapy_?" It comes out in a rush, but I think he understood, because he is nodding already.

"Yes, it does." He looks at me thoughtfully. "Is therapy something you would be willing to go to?" I nod hesitantly.

"Would you like me to set up an appointment for you?"

"I want to try."

"I'll call Carlisle and see if he recommends someone and then we'll get you set up for a soon as possible."

"Thank you."

"Bella, I'll do anything to make you healthy and happy. You don't have to thank me for that. You're my little girl and I love you." A tear builds in the corner of my eye and I walk forward and hug him. He squeezes me gently and I hear him sigh happily.

"Thank you for letting me live here and for caring for me. I'm sorry I'm not better, but I want to try, Charlie, I really do."

"I wouldn't want you anywhere else other than here. And I can't help but care, you're my daughter. And you are a great one at that. Don't worry about anything else we'll get there, baby girl. We'll get to a day when you know you don't have to thank me for caring because you'll know you deserve it." He promises, squeezing me one more time before I let go. "Now, how about I take my favorite, beautiful daughter out to dinner?" I nod and giggle.

"Ok."

"Let's roll. I have a hankering for some of the diner's high cholesterol on a plate meatloaf." I smile and happily follow him to my car. "Want to drive?" I nod and get in. I'm still not great at it, seeing as I've only been driving two weeks, but Charlie is always patient with me. Even when I only go ten miles per hour. "Check your mirrors." He reminds me, buckling up.

"Ok." I say and pull out of the driveway. For some reason, I feel lighter than I can ever remember feeling. Charlie turns on the radio and begins singing along. Something about having friends in low places. I have to admit the singer has a nice voice.

~0~

Half way through dinner, Charlie's cell phone goes off. Unfortunately, he was being called into work, so he drove us home and dropped me off. Charlie had mainly been watching the football game on the big screen at the diner, along with almost everyone else there, yet, it had still been enjoyable. He made me laugh and kept trying to explain football to me, hopeful that I might like it one day. I will admit it is better than baseball.

Going into the kitchen, I put mine and Charlie's leftovers away as well as the piece of gooey chocolate cake Charlie insisted I had to have for later. I call Noel and she runs her cute fur ball self in and I pick her up. I pull her food out and heat it up. She eats noisily for something so small. After she eats, I take her outside to do her business. I'm startled by a sound while I'm waiting for her. Turning to find out about it, I see Emmett is leaning up against the fence moaning. He's hunched over and it looks like he has been ill.

"Emmett?" I call softly. He turns and looks at me, his face crushed. I walk to his side and can smell the stench of alcohol. Fear courses through me, memories of how evil Renee was while drinking.

"I'm so confused, Bells." He groans out reaching out for me. I help him up as best I could, considering he is a bear of a guy. I get him moving towards the door with Noel rushing ahead of us. I was luckily able to get him to the sofa, where he flops down moaning about life sucking. I go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water for him.

"You should drink this." I offer it to him timidly.

"Thanks." He takes it with a nod. "Bells, why does life have to fucking suck so bad sometimes?" He leans his head back, looking so sad. Without really thinking I curl in beside him, trying to comfort him.

"I don't know, Emmett, I really don't know," was all I can say, or think of, for that matter.

**Emmett's POV**

_"I want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you everything."_

Everything.

Finally.

I am ready for this? How could I not be? When I've waited for so long to hear what she is finally offering. I'm about to find out what happened to Rose. Why she had turned into such a cruel bitch. But, am I ready?

"We should probably sit for this." I say both out of concern for her now pale face and my nerves. She walks over to the sofa and sits quietly and when she looks at me, I give a small nod. A signal to go ahead when she is ready.

"First, before I begin, I just want to apologize for allowing my pain to manifest into cruelty towards others. And, I want to also apologize not telling you about this before, since it concerns you as much as it does me. My therapist says that while some people internalize their pain, I externalized mine by taking it out on others. We are working on that though." She sighs then continues. "I know that telling you this doesn't mean that you and I will be magically back together, Em, I promise I'm not going to try and force your hand, nor am I doing this to guilt you back into it."

"Thank you for that." God this is stressful.

"Do you remember when my parents sent me to stay with my Grandparents for a month so they could go on that couples' retreat?" I nod.

The Hales had been fighting like cats and dogs and they went on the trip to try and save their marriage. It had been hell being away from Rose though. "Remember how I called you all the time the first week, but the second week I always was busy?" I nod again.

"How could I forget, I thought you were avoiding me, or trying to break up with me." I say with a little sarcasm.

"I _was_ avoiding you, Em." She says sadly. "I couldn't talk to you then. I was hurting so bad and I didn't want you hurting as well. That pain, God that pain wouldn't stop." She looks into my eyes. "Remember the scar that I told you I received from falling?" My mouth wouldn't work. Millions of scenarios were running though my head. She had to have stitches from the fall she told me about. What really had caused it?

"What happened, Rose?" I demand softly.

"I woke up in pain, I hadn't felt right the day before, but this pain was more intense than anything I'd ever felt. I was running a fever and soon vomiting. Grandmother called an ambulance and I was soon rushed to the hospital. I don't remember much, just lights and people talking around me. The EMTs had given me something for the pain and also something to calm me down, since I was thrashing around in the ambulance.

"As I said I don't remember much. I remember my Grandmother crying and the doctor saying he was sorry. Then the assurance that I would be fine. That they caught it all in time and I wouldn't die. Everything else is a jumbled mess. When I woke up in my hospital room, my Grandfather was reading the Bible out loud and my Grandmother was crying still. I begged them to tell me what happened, why I was there. Grandfather couldn't stop reading, it was like his lifeline or something in that moment. And Grandmother's tears refused to let her talk."

"Rosie…" She cut me off with a finger though.

"Please, Em, just let me say what I need to, or I might never get it out." She takes a deep breath and then continues. "Mom and Dad were called. They left the retreat and rushed to my side. When they came into the room, my Mother burst into tears and my Father looked like a zombie, one of the walking dead. I asked them if they knew what was wrong, what had happened and they sent for the doctor unable to tell me themselves.

"The doctor informed me that I had suffered acute appendicitis and that it nearly burst, which would have in all likelihood killed me. He told me kindly that I would recover from the surgery. I couldn't understand why this would cause so much drama. People have appendectomies every day. It's almost as common as a tonsillectomy. The doctor then went on, breaking into my thoughts about grief counseling and other options. I had to back track him and ask him what he was talking about. I didn't need grief counseling for an appendix.

"I almost felt bad for the guy. He looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He told me that I had lost the baby and I said 'what baby?' he then informed me that I had been around two and a half months pregnant. That they tried to use the scope, but the severity required that they cut me open. Losing the baby caused a lot of bleeding and they had to do something to stop it. The doctor informed me there was a good possibility that I will never be able to conceive again and an even greater possibility that I will never carry a child to term."

She begins to sob and I don't even think about it. I pull her into my arms. I try using those cooing noises that Bella uses on her puppy when it's upset. Just 'shhs' and 'it's ok's. But it wasn't ok, Rosalie had always wanted children. She loves babies; we had planned on having at least four.

Wait.

If she was pregnant, then it was my baby that she had lost. My child who never got to see the world. I feel lightheaded and nauseas. My heart feels like someone has a hold on it, squeezing tightly. I feel like a little piece of my heart has broken off, always to belong to the child that I will never know.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I manage to ask her softly, trying to hold back accusations and my hurt.

"I didn't want you to bear the burden. I didn't want you to have to morn our child, Emmett. It hurt me so badly and I never wanted you to hurt like that. So I kept it to myself. Only I lashed out at the world." She shakes her head and sobs some more.

I feel like I can't breathe, like the room is closing in on me. I just want to run, be free and think. I want to go, but I can't leave her here alone like this. And she sure as hell isn't up to driving. I'm torn in so many different directions that I can't even think straight. And I know she wants me to tell her that it's ok. But it's _not_. She hid something as important as my child dying from me. Yes, to protect me or some shit. But still she kept it from me. Lied for months about her scar.

My mind is fighting itself. Part of me wants to sit here and hold her, tell her it will be ok. Protect her from falling apart. And another part wants me to yell, tell her that it hurts and that I can't sit here with her any longer. The most predominant side, wants to run. To just _go_. I always think best while running and I'm craving it.

"I'm so sorry, Emmett, I know I was wrong now. I know now that I should have shared this with you." She whispers.

"Rosalie, I…" The door opens and my Dad comes in effectively stopping me mid-sentence.

"Is everything ok, kids?" His brow is furrowed taking in Rose's tears and my pinched look.

"Just talking, Dad." I answer him as calmly as I can.

"Uh huh." He grunts a little. "Should I get your sister and take her to the diner for dinner so the two of you can finish your chat?" He asks nicely.

"Bella is with Edward. I don't know where they are or when they'll be back. But she's with Edward, so we know she is safe." I promise and kind of kick myself for not asking when and where. "Plus, I think Rosie and I are done talking for now. I'm going to drive her home." I know she isn't up for driving, hell I'm probably not either.

"Ok, drive safely." Dad gives me a pointed look and I raise my eyebrow letting him know we'll discuss it later.

~0~

The ride to the Hales is quiet. Rose and I both lost in our own thought, neither knowing what to say to the other one now. I want to be able to tell her I forgive her and that I understand. But I don't do anything for now. I need time. I need to think.

"Em…" She goes to say something but stops.

"Rose, for now I think we've said enough. I do have one thing to say though before I go. If you had told me, I would have held you, told you I love you and nothing would have changed. Whether you can have a million babies biologically or whether we had to adopt, it wouldn't have changed how I felt. We could have mourned the loss of our child together and come out of the pain with one another. Instead, you took all of it upon yourself. You chose to isolate me from the truth and lashed me out because of your hurt. And probably you held some resentment because I wasn't mourning with you. Face it Rose, it was _our_ child and somewhere in your subconscious, you were pissed that only one of us knew and was able to cry over it.

"I need time to think, time to mourn and heal. If you respect me and care for me at all, you will give me this time. I can't promise I'll ever forgive you, understand or try to make up with you, but I will tell you how I feel. After I've had time to calm down and think. You've had over a year. Just give me some space, Rosie."

"Ok, I'll give you space. When or _if_ you are ever ready, my therapist would like to do a group session with us. Part of my healing process, but I'll understand if you can't…" And she trails off again.

"Time, Rose. I need time." With that said, I pulled away, I needed to think. I need time.

**AN2: I've started chapter 22 already, reviews are wonderful inspiration to type and get it out quicker. **

**It was brought up that Bella seemed to have a panic attack out of the blue, first panic can manifest itself at anytime. Second this wasn't her first attack in the story, it was just never discussed. Chapter 4 is a good example, Emmett is talking to Rose here: **"I went up for her the second time and found her in the closet in her room promising to be a good girl. She was rocking back and forth with tears in her eyes." **But do we know if it is a panic attacks or something else? We'll find out in therapy. **

**I'd also like to say I will never hold a chapter until a certain amount of reviews are in. The outtakes are just extras, thank yous. I will discuss all of those issues in the story, it will just be more in depth in the outtakes. Don't feel like I am forcing you to review to get a regular chapter of the story. While I love every review and it does honestly encourage and inspire me to write, I'm not going hmm if I don't get 40 reviews they will never see the chapter *insert evil laugh here* **

**Fic Recs (just add fanfiction*dot*net to them):**

**For Funny try Work in Progress /s/4874316/1/ *I've been with this fic since she posted chapter 3 and it's my unhealthy obsession fic. I've read it 4 times.**

**For a good Romance, with a little drama, and lots of hot Edward try Sway /s/5362427/1/ (July 22nd I will be hosting the read along for this on Twitter for those of you who don't know about the read along I'm going to put more info on my blog) **

**I can't say enough good things about this fic: Strings/s/5683107/1/**

**Romance/Angst/Need a Tissue (promises a hea): Empty Panes and Pretty Things /s/5591160/1/**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Big huge thanks to TwiDi, a great beta and friend. She cleaned this up and got it back into my hot little hands so all of you could read it ;0) You know I'm going to remind you that her story You Don't Know anything is awesome and up for a Silent Tear award ;0)**

**AN: Thank you to all my wonderful readers, the reviews last time were so great, I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying this little fic of mine. I hope I don't let you down.**

**This chapter isn't too rough. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do I'd love if you'd review to let me know. **

**Emmett's POV**

I drive home with million thoughts rushing through my head. Had I been too rough on Rose? Possibly… but my hurt was my only concern at the moment. Maybe it was selfish, but I think I deserved a moment of 'me' time.

Should I have done more to comfort her? God, I probably should have. But what I needed was to get the fuck away from her before I said something hurtful. She was in enough pain; she didn't need me to lash out and say things I'd hate myself for later. I needed the time I asked her for. She had over a year before she told me anything, I don't think asking for a little time of my own to digest things is too much to ask.

My cell phone rang and the caller ID said it was _Vicky_. Right now, I just couldn't handle talking to her. Shit! She deserved better than me ignoring her, but what was I going to say? I'm sure 'Hey, I'm dealing with the fact that the girl I've loved for as long as I can remember lost my baby and never told me in some deluded attempt to protect me and ended up hurting everyone around her and herself. So, I'm falling apart. Can I call you back later?'… Yeah, no girl wants to hear that from their quasi boyfriend.

Am I Vicky's boyfriend? Hell, I don't know. I mean, I like her, we have fun. Sometimes she gets clingy and that is a major turn off. Other times, the majority of the time, she is this cool chick that I can just chill and hang out with. We don't have deep talks like I did with Rosie. I mean, I have no clue of what Vicky's plans are for the future. I know Rose wanted to teach kindergarten or first grade because she loves children so much. I don't even know Vicky's middle name. I do know she is kind to my baby sister, which is very important to me. She has an obsession with the original Teen Wolf movie, which is some funny ass eighties shit, so that's cool. And I know she likes me. So where does this leave us?

Especially when I can't stop dreaming about Rosalie. God, I wish these thoughts would stop. Peace and quiet is what I need. I'd love to be numb for a bit. Just forget everything. Forget every plan I made with Rose, forget that she lied to me for over a year, forget that my child died and I never knew about it. Forget Vicky's hurt expression, when she was blowing me the other night and I moaned Rosalie's name.

_Numb. I'd kill for numb right now._

I finally pull into my driveway and go into the house, thankful that no one is home. No one should be subjected to my breakdown. I walk into the kitchen, wondering if there is some chocolate pie left over. _Hey, I hear chocolate works for girls, might as well try it right?_ Sadly, I think Dad must have eaten the last of it. Maybe we have some candy in the cabinets? I go searching and run across the bottle of Scotch, the guys at the station gave Dad for his birthday last year. He's had maybe a glass of it.

_Hmm, candy is dandy but liquor is quicker._

I grab the bottle out and head into the back yard. The setting sun is almost a memory… it's already so far down. I open the bottle and take a large gulp. It stings my throat and warms me up a little. Maybe it will numb me soon.

**~0~**

"Emmett?" I hear Bella's voice call softly, questioningly. I feel like shit that my baby sis has to see me like this. Though I'm not sober at all, I can still see the flicker of fear in her eyes and I feel even shittier. She has been through so much, last fucking thing she needs is a drunk brother bitching about all the woes of his life.

"I'm so confused, Bells." I groan, I can't help it, it slips through my lips. I go to stand straight and can't. My hand automatically reaches for her and I'm happy that she helps me instead of running away. I notice Noel ahead of us trying to beat us into the house. Poor pup thinks it's a game. Ahh, to be that innocent again.

"You should drink this." Bella timidly hands me a bottle of water.

"Thanks." I say with a nod that makes the room spin a little. "Bells, why does life have to fucking suck so bad sometimes?" I lean my head back on the sofa. I'm pleased and shocked when Bella curls in beside me and places her head on my shoulder.

"I don't know, Emmett, I really don't know." She tells me sadly.

We sat there like that for I don't know how long. The alcohol didn't numb me like I hoped, instead it made me feel guilty and depressed. Shit. I can't even drink right. I can't help but feel bitter. I'm a shitty boyfriend, to both Rose and Vicky. I'm a shitty friend to Jasper and Edward, I don't spend nearly enough time with them. I'm a shitty son. Charlie is going to be pissed when he finds out I was drinking. And I'm a shitty brother. If I was a better brother Bella would have never had her attack yesterday, I would have gone to Seattle with them, made her feel safe, so it didn't happen. Hell, if I was a better brother, maybe she'd have been healed by now.

Noticing that it was going on seven; and Dad would be home soon, I glance over at Bella, who is lightly snoring, and hold back a chuckle. Picking her up probably wouldn't be smart, drunk carrying her might end up with me dropping her.

"Bells?" I shake her gently.

"Hmm?" She is still asleep I think, poor kid.

"I'm going up to my room to sleep this off before Dad gets home." I tell her and she nods.

"Ok." She gets up and holds her hand out to me. She wants to help me. God, I'm a dick. She is the one who needs help the most, and here she is taking care of me. But I let her, knowing she'd be hurt if I didn't. So, I take her hand and lean gently on her up the stairs.

**~0~**

Monday morning sucks, Monday morning with hangovers sucks donkey dick. And to make it all so much more fun, Dad was sitting at the table when I got up. Does the man ever sleep? I know he stayed up to at least eleven thirty watching Sunday night football. It's only five am and he looks like he has been up for hours.

"Hey, kid." He grunts out, in his usual Charlie manner.

"Hey, old man." I grunt back at him.

"Did you talk to Edward already about Bella?" I shake my head in the negative and he gives a short nod. "Well, he talked to her I guess. She came to me last night and said he told her some stuff from his past and now she wants therapy."

"Good." I respond.

"Yeah." He looks at me in the eye then. "So, want to tell me about why my Scotch bottle is empty in the trash? And why you jump at every little noise?"

"Not particularly." Ok being a smart-ass is probably not the best idea.

"Emmett, you're my son. I love you, you know this. But you know the _rules_, no underage drinking. And especially to the amount that you did, I realize it was a small bottle, but you could have gotten alcohol poisoning. You could have been dumb and got behind the wheel of your jeep. So, many different things could have happened, Emmett. So many _bad_ things…" He looks at me disappointed. "You could have killed someone, or yourself. People lose their inhibitions and rational thought process while under the influence, so an argument that you wouldn't do that is moot."

"I'm sorry." I know this is a hot button topic for Dad. Besides being a cop and seeing too many things drunk drivers had done over the years, his younger brother Steven died at seventeen when he was drinking and driving. He had passed out due to alcohol poisoning and crashed into a tree. Charlie has a few beers or a hard drink every now and then, but never to excess; and he is _very_ anti-underage drinking. "A lot of things happened yesterday, you saw me with Rose and well… she told me some stuff and I just wanted to forget."

"What happened, son?" He asks; angry Dad automatically replaced by concerned Dad.

"Remember when the Hales went on their retreat to work out their marital issues?" He nods in the affirmative. "Rose went to her Grandparents. There she had an emergency appendectomy and a miscarriage." His breath pulls sharp, a gasp of shock. "I guess there was enough damage that she may never have a baby naturally. That's why she has been so different lately. So cold and bitchy."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm ripped up, bitter, torn and I feel bad for her. I miss her, I love her and I hate her all at the same time." The honesty slips through my lips.

"If you need to talk about it, I'm here. If you want a therapist to talk to, I'll make an appointment for you when I call for your sister. Anything you need, son, I'll do my damndest to help you get." He tells me.

"I know, Dad. Thanks." I mean it. And he shocks me when he gets up, comes over and gives me a hug.

"You're my son, my child I'd do anything I can for you." He pulls back. "But, son, drinking isn't going to help your problems." He sits back down.

"I know. It actually made it worse. I started getting weird depressing thoughts about being sucky at everything, I didn't like it."

"Good, because that's not true. You do not suck at everything."

"Thanks, Dad, I'm gonna go shower and start getting ready for school." I let him know, while I'm standing up.

"You do that, son." He says then laughs. "Oh and, Em?" I turn back. "You're grounded for two weeks, to school and home, unless I otherwise let you know." I nod. "I know it was some shit you went through, but you broke the main rule and it can't go unpunished."

"No problem, Dad." In a way it's kind of a blessing. Two weeks to think. Two weeks that I can put off the inevitable. What to tell Rose. And figuring out what I want with Vicky.

**~0~**

"Mondays should be banned for the rest of existence." I tell Bella as we get into the jeep to head to school.

"Why?" She asks with a confused look.

"Because they end the weekend and you have to go back to the everyday stuff. School, work, reality." I explain.

"But if Monday was banned, then Tuesday would just take over." She responds. "Some day or another is still going to signal the start of the regular week. Banning Monday just puts off the inevitable." She informs me softly.

"Ok, smarty, I get it." She gives a soft giggle. I love moments like this, where she'll semi banter with me. Moments where it feels like we are making progress and the kid is going to be ok. "So, Dad, found out about my drinking and I got grounded for two weeks." I tell her cheerfully.

"Are you ok?" She looks worried.

"Yep, just two weeks of to school and back during the week; and to work and back on the weekends. I've been grounded for a month before, so two weeks is easy."

"Why did you get grounded for a month?" She asks in her soft timid voice, the one she uses when she is reverting back to the scared little girl.

"Oh, I played Superman off a building thinking I could fly and umm… yeah, I was doing some drinking then too." Dad had been pissed.

"Did Charlie punish you?" Her voice squeaks a little.

"Yeah, he grounded me for a month."

"That's all?"

"Bella, for Dad that is a huge punishment. Most of the time I was grounded for a week or had my video games taken away for a few days."

"Oh." She looks out the window.

We pulled into the parking lot and everyone was standing between Jasper and Edward's cars. Alice was wrapped around Jasper and Edward was trying not to look at it. Poor guy. We walk over towards them and Vicky runs up to kiss me good morning. I kiss her lightly and say 'hello'. Edward holds out his hand and Bella walks over and puts her hand in his. He pulls her into a gentle hug and kisses her forehead. It's sweet and soft and you can see the tension leave her body. He curls her into his side and her face is serene. When he shifts she follows automatically. It's odd, like they've become one unit instead of two separate entities.

"So, I'm grounded for two weeks." I say glumly. Bella shoots me a confused look and I wink at her. "I decided to play around in Dad's Scotch and now I'm paying the piper."

"Dip shit." Jasper says. Edward nods his agreement, but glares at me a little.

"Want me to come over and keep you company?" Vicky offers.

"Sorry, Vick, no guest allowed for the prisoner."

"Sucks." She replies.

"See you in Trig, Bells." I wave 'bye' to my sister and head off to class. Luckily, Vicky has a different class, _unluckily_ though, _Edward_ is in this one.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" He corners me. You know Edward is pissed if he's tossing out the f-bomb. "What if you did or said something fucked up to Bella there?" Ahh, the reason for the glare.

"I didn't and I wasn't thinking. The past few days have been fucked, Edward. Just let it rest, Bella's fine." He glares some more.

"You do know that the smell of alcohol reminds Bella of Renee, that Renee drank a lot?" No, I didn't know this.

"No, I didn't know that."

"It's something she let slip when she was telling me about what happened in Seattle on Saturday."

"Fuck." I mumble.

"Yep." He replies giving me one last glare, before the teacher comes in.

**~0~**

The lunch room was loud as usual. We were all sitting around the table talking when I caught sight of Rose out of the corner of my eye. She was sitting with Newton, Stanley and their crew. I felt bad, I know how much she loathes Tanya and Tanya sits at that table. My fist clenches as I see Yorkie take a seat beside her. She smiles kindly at him and he pats her shoulder. I just want to go play face punch with him.

"So, since Emmett is grounded my plans are blown for the afternoon. What are you doing this afternoon, Bella?" Vicky asks my sister.

"Umm…" Bella looks like she is thinking.

"Bella and I are having a BFF afternoon, all girlie and party of two, no boys allowed." Alice gives Edward a look.

"Oh." Vicky looks defeated, then perks up. "I'm sure Charlie will enjoy coming home to that." Umm… what?

"He probably would love it, but we are doing it at my house." Alice informs her.

"Ahh." Vicky looks defeated again. She goes back to rubbing my thigh. That was weird. Alice and Bella share a look and Edward looks at me with that, 'Did you know about this look?' and I respond with a look that says, 'Huh?'. I glance to Jasper in case he knows what is going on, but he is gazing adoringly at Alice and his look just seems to say, 'Alice is my queen'.

"The bell is about to ring." Edward warns us and we head off to class.

Why does everything have to be so damned confusing?

**BPOV**

Emmett seemed way too happy Monday morning when he explained to me that he was grounded for two weeks. Though when he told everyone else, he was way more subdued. Vicky offered to come over and hang out with him to help ease his sentence, but he quickly informed her that he couldn't have guest.

Later at lunch, Vicky tried hinting to me that she could come over and hang out with me. Alice ended that though, telling everyone that she and I were going to do girlie things this afternoon. A BFF party for two. Alice then assured me after lunch that I could get out of it if I wanted, she just didn't like the way Vicky was acting and she worried that Vicky was trying to get me to invite her over, so she could still hang out with Emmett and use me as an excuse to be there. It had felt like that and I was glad for Alice's intervention. I chose to go over to Alice's because I love spending time with her. She squealed with delight and later painted my toe nails pink.

Tuesday, Edward came over and helped me cook dinner. By help, I mean that he taste-tested everything and made me laugh a lot. We then watched a movie with Charlie and Emmett. After Edward went home, Charlie told me that he made an appointment with the therapist and that I was supposed to be there the Monday after next at four in the afternoon. It was the soonest she could see me, because she was away on vacation right now.

Wednesday, in the parking lot before school, Rosalie asked Emmett if he would talk to her in private. He declined saying something about her pushing and him still needing time, before he stomped off. Edward wrapped his arm around me and walked me to class, telling me not to worry that Emmett would be fine. I guess he saw my worry for my brother in my eyes.

Thursday afternoon, Edward, Alice and Jasper showed up at the house looking worried and hurt. Emmett came downstairs and they were all over him. Rosalie had called them all into a meeting of some sort and told them what happened to her and apologized to them. Alice had known a little bit of it before hand, but not everything.

Emmett took the time to tell me what happened and I couldn't help but hug him. It was just so sad. After hearing everything though, I couldn't help but be worried about him. He just seems so torn up and depressed. I could tell the others were just as worried about Emmett. The fact that they dropped everything to come and make sure he was ok was a big indication of how much they care about him. The fact that they stayed until Charlie sent them home showed how worried they are about him. The warmth and love they all had for my brother made me feel blessed to know these people.

Friday, Edward had to stay home from school. He woke up sick and I wanted to go over and take care of him, but he told me not to. He was worried I'd catch his bug and get sick. Plus, he assured me that he would be better soon and his Mom was staying home to take care of him. I called him after school like he asked. Though his throat was sore, he said he wanted to hear my voice. I ended up reading to him. He assured me he enjoyed it.

Saturday dawned sunny, even though Edward was still sick. In an effort to make my boyfriend, _internal Alice squeal inserted here_, feel better I made a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup and a double batch of the triple fudge brownies that I know Edward loves. Charlie took me over to deliver telling me how great it all smells. I didn't tell him at the time, but I had extra brownies and soup at home for us as well. I wanted to surprise him.

"It's a nice day." Charlie states with a smile. He's just gotten behind the wheel of my Neon after we said our goodbyes to the Cullens.

"It is." I agree. We were having a nice warm day for Fall.

"I think this is a sign." He turns and smiles at me and pulls the car out heading the opposite way from home. "You up for an adventure, Bells?"

"Ok." I answer timidly.

"Good, just sit back and relax then." He gives a huge smile then takes off down the road.

**~0~**

Miniature golf. Charlie took me to play _miniature golf_. It's called Gilligan's Island Fun Land, located on the outskirts of Port Angeles. I've never played or been to a miniature golf course before, but the grin on Charlie's face leads me to believe it's enjoyable.

"What color club and ball do want, sweetheart?" Charlie asks.

"Umm…" I look at what there is to offer. "Purple?"

"Purple it is." He smiles and takes the deep blue for his choice. The guy behind the counter goes to hand us a score card, which Charlie declines telling him he's teaching me to play today. The guy smiles and wishes me luck.

Charlie goes through the rules and explains techniques before we get to the first hole. It didn't sound that hard, but it was. The first hole it took me twelve shots to get the ball in that little hole. The fourth hole had this evil windmill that kept knocking my ball away, I really hate that windmill. Charlie wasn't having any problems, getting the ball in with one or two shots, he assures me that it's because he's played so many times before. By the eighteenth hole, the sun was starting to set and I was getting frustrated. Clearly miniature golf was evil. Then it happened, I hit the ball once and it went in.

"Hole in one, baby girl!" Charlie cheers and I look at him shocked.

"It… I… oh… squeee!" I giggle after making the squealing noise.

"Yep, you've been hanging out with Alice a lot." Charlie jokes. He gives me this warm hug. "You did it, Bella, the course was frustrating you, trying to beat you down, but in the end you beat it. Never forget that, sweetheart. As long as you keep fighting, you can beat anything."

"Thank you." I squeeze him back in the hug.

"Hey, how about getting a pizza with your old man?" I nod.

"Ok." We go to drop off our clubs and Charlie buys me this t-shirt that tells the world I made a hole in one and a hat for himself, that proclaims him the number one miniature golf Dad. He looks silly wearing it, but his grin is huge, so I don't say anything.

We go to a smaller pizzeria called _Antoine's_. The pizza is delicious and the waitress seems to really like Charlie. Not that he notices. He's too busy asking me about my week, which I tell him about with no problem. I leave out the part about Emmett and Rosalie, that's not for me to tell Charlie, if he doesn't already know. When I tell him about the 'A' I received on my trig test, he beams at me, then tells me how smart I am and how proud he is of me.

When we arrive back home, I present Charlie with the brownies, he pumps his fist and shouts 'yes'. I almost fall over laughing at the sight. After that, he settles in to watch the sports news and I say 'goodnight'. Before going upstairs, I grab a paper towel and wrap two brownies in it. I knock softly on Emmett's door when I get upstairs, he opens it looking so sad. I hand him the brownies and he hugs me, wishing me a goodnight.

I call Edward to check on him before getting ready for bed. He's feeling better, he tells me, and should be back to school on Monday. Alice steals the phone from him and we make plans to hang out on Sunday. I tell them both about my day over speaker phone and Alice tells us about her date with Jasper. Edward, feeling left out, told us about his Adam Sandler movie marathon. They ask me how Emmett is doing and I tell them the truth. I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem to be good. We say 'goodnight' and I go about my nightly routine.

Crawling into bed, I reflect on the day. Even though I'll probably never play the evil game of miniature golf again, I wouldn't change that time with Charlie for anything. He kept encouraging me, telling me I could do it. Over dinner, he beamed with pride. Charlie really seems to care about me. And as hard as it is for me to let someone in, especially a parent, I can't help but want to let Charlie in. I can't help but want to get to know my Dad better.

**AN2: Reviews help get Edward out of his sick bed and into the next chapter ;0)…..**

**Vicky is a nice person, she is also a teenager clinging to a guy she knows is really in love with someone else, just a hint. There are some FAQs posted to the thread and on my blog. **

**If you're bored you can follow me on Twitter dont_run . **


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: TwiDi you rock! Much love to her for Beta'ing this chapter so quick :0) I just got it to her last minute and she helped me get it out in time for all of you. **

**This chapter is pretty safe to read, but has a lot of hidden clues to things that are going to be happening in future chapters.  
**

**Bella's POV**

Sunday was a little gloomier than Saturday, but that didn't stop Charlie from continuing his plans. After church, he asks Emmett and I if we'd want to go with him to La Push to visit Billy. Billy and Charlie are planning on utilizing this nicer weather to barbeque and also plan on watching the Seahawks game.

"Sorry, Dad, I just want to relax and watch the game at home. Not in the mood to go visiting." Emmett declines Charlie's offer.

"No problem, son." Charlie claps him on the back and gives him an understanding smile.

Ever since Rosalie's bombshell, Emmett has been quiet and solitary. I know I haven't known him long, but he's always seemed to enjoy being around people. But right now, he seemed just closed off. I'm tempted to stay here with him, just so he's not alone, but I have this feeling that is exactly what he wants.

"What about you, sweetheart?" Charlie asks me.

"I'll go." I give him a smile to let him know that I'm willing. "Do I have time to change?" I really don't want to wear my church clothes any longer today.

"Go ahead. I need to get this tie off as well." Charlie laughs and follows me up the stairs to go to his room to change.

After slipping on some dark wash jeans and a pretty green sweater that reminds me of Edward's eyes, a thought crosses my mind. I pick up my baby and go down the stairs to feed her before we go. While in the kitchen, I also heat up some of the soup - that I made for Edward yesterday - for Emmett to eat, today. I pull out a tray and plop that, two slices of homemade bread, lightly buttered, the now warm soup and two brownies on it for Emmett. I reach into the fridge and grab him a Dr. Pepper, before taking it to him in the living room. There he is slouching in front of the TV, the pre-game show going.

"I thought you might be hungry." I offer setting the tray in front of him. A grin breaks out on his face.

"Thanks, Bells." He picks up a slice of the bread and hums around it in appreciation. "You know it's true, the way to a man's heart is threw his stomach." He says with a laugh. "This is awesome, sis."

"Thanks." I reply blushing, though pleased that he seems to enjoy my cooking so much. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good." He mutters around a spoonful of soup.

"Hey, Bells, can you grab the pack of steaks I left in the fridge to thaw?" Charlie asks coming back in. He's wearing his classic flannel shirt and jeans.

"Ok." I smile and go back into the kitchen for the meat. Noel is finishing up her meal. I can't help but smile indulgently at her when she keeps falling over trying to clean herself up._ Poor baby, her balance is as bad as mine._ She follows me back into the living room and Charlie takes the big pack of meat from my arms.

"Thanks, Bells. Did you want to take Noel with us?" He asks. I shake my head 'no'.

"Emmett, can Noel stay here with you? I don't want her getting ticks and fleas out in the woods." I ask, though it's only half true. Noel makes me feel better and I can't help but hope she can do the same for Emmett.

"Yeah, Bells, no problem." I pick her up and set her on the sofa beside Emmett, who slips a bite of the chicken from the soup to her. After she eats that, she nuzzles in beside him and starts snoring. "I seriously don't think she'll be a problem." He laughs.

**~0~**

"Charlie! Bella!" Billy greats as we show up at his small house out in the woods on the reservation.

"Hey, Billy." Charlie high fives him.

"Hi," I great shyly.

"You brought the meat." Billy says with a laugh. "Though, I think you brought enough to feed a wolf pack!" Charlie laughs with him.

"Well, I didn't know if Emmett was coming and he and Jake eat like bears, so you never know how much is too much."

"Meat? Did I hear meat?" Jacob comes out of a tiny room off the really tiny living room asking about the meat, with a huge smile on his face.

"Tonight we are eating steak, boy." Charlie tells him laughing at Jacob's enthusiasm.

"Sweet, the only thing better than beef patties is a steak cooked on the grill!" Jacob informs Charlie. "Oh hey, Bella," he notices me finally, and blushes a little when he greets me.

"Hi, Jacob," I make a point to say his name since last time I didn't remember it.

"Where's Em?" Jacob asks my Father. _It's still weird to think of him like that, but I'm trying._

"He decided to have a day to himself at home." Charlie tells both Jacob and Billy, leaving out all of Emmett's personal issues, which is really nice of him.

"Jake, why don't you get the grill going?" Billy asks his son, though it sounds more like telling him.

"Sure, sure." He complies. "Hey, Bella, want to see the master get a grill going?" I look to Charlie who gives me his 'ok' with a nod.

"Ok." I agree and follow the boy out there.

Jacob is explaining to me everything he is doing with the grill, but I don't have the heart to tell him that Charlie has already showed me how to use ours at the house. He just seems to be excited to have someone to show off his toy to.

"So, Bella, I just wanted to say _sorry_." He says quietly.

"What for?" I ask confused.

"For being so pushy and overly flirty with you. I think you're cute and I didn't handle it that well." He explains. I blush a little at being called 'cute', but remember Edward telling me that I'm beautiful; and blush even harder.

"Thanks, umm… no problem." I tell him softly.

"So, not to push my luck here. But, would you like to go out on a date?" His grin is huge and while he is a cute boy, he doesn't make my heart go crazy; and doesn't make me tingle all over like Edward does.

"I don't think so, Jacob. I mean, thanks for the offer and everything, but I already have a boyfriend." I explain. This is painful, I should have stayed inside with Charlie.

"Cullen?" He almost spits.

"Edward. And, yes." I reply.

"Isn't he a little _old_ for you?" He demands. "I didn't think you would be one of those girls drawn in by pretty boy looks and a ton of money." I glare at him.

"Don't you dare judge him, Jacob Black. Edward is so much more than his looks and money. He's smart, caring, loving and wonderful. No, he isn't too old for me, he's seventeen and I'm sixteen, that's a year difference!" I yell. "For the first time in my life, I feel safe, happy and loved. And that is due in a large part to Edward Cullen." I turn away from him and rush into the house to find Charlie.

I hate yelling, anger and confrontation. All of these things remind me of Renee. When Jacob tried to imply that I only want to be with Edward because of his money and looks, it made me so mad I couldn't stop myself from yelling at him. I just hope Charlie isn't mad at me for it.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Charlie asks as I sit down close to him on the old battered sofa.

"Bella, listen I'm sorry again, ok?" Jacob says rushing into the house. "I shouldn't have implied that about you and Cullen."

"What did you imply, Jacob?" Charlie asks with a little growl to his voice.

"That I only like Edward because of his looks and money." I tell Charlie softly. Charlie laughs out loud.

"Jacob, what the hell?" Billy says in a half groan, half laugh. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, I asked her out and she said she was dating Edward. It was reflex."

"Bella, please forgive my _naïve_ fifteen year old son who, in his lack of wisdom, lashed out like a three year old who was told he couldn't have candy before dinner. Instead of taking rejection like a man, he took it out on you like a child."

"Bella, I am sorry. Cullen is an ok guy and I shouldn't have said anything like that. I know you're not one of those shallow girls who are only about looks and money."

"Ok." I nod. I was forgiving him, because in the long run, he really doesn't matter enough for me to waste emotions on. I had enough problems holding me back; I didn't need anger or resentment at Jacob Black being one of them.

**~0~**

"Bella, are you really ok?" Charlie asks on the way home from the Black house.

"Yeah," I say sincerely. The evening had gotten a lot better once Jacob realized that I was with Edward and decided to treat me like a friend instead.

"Good. I just want to apologize too, I didn't realize that Jacob had this lingering crush on you." He smiles, "and I think he learned not to say bad things about Edward." Charlie kind of half looks at me, half looks at the road and winks. I have to giggle. He looks silly and sincere all at once. "And just so you know, no one thinks you are with Edward because of his looks or money. That's why I laughed, sweetheart, your heart is too sweet and pure to be like that."

"Thank you." I whisper, feeling warm and content at his words.

"No, thank you, sweetheart, for being the best daughter any guy could ask for."

He reaches over and pats my thigh and impulsively I reach out and squeeze his hand. I want to hug him and call him Dad, be a real daughter for once. But, I'm not sure I know how, or if I'm ready for that yet, so I just smile. I want to trust him so bad, but trusting is hard, I still worry that once he knows how comfortable and happy I am here, once I use that name 'Dad'; that he might turn on me. The worry gets smaller every day, but it lingers in the back of my mind. It's like a black spot on a white canvas, marring what has become a clean slate and a great life.

**~0~**

Monday morning, as Emmett and I get out of his jeep, I can't help but be excited to see Edward standing in the parking lot. Though his nose is a little red and he's paler than normal, he is still the beautiful boy that I care so much for. Forgetting myself and my normal reserve, I rush across to him and embrace him. I couldn't stop the blush that crept up my face at his throaty chuckle.

"I missed you too, baby." He kisses my forehead gently.

"Are you feeling better?" I ask him nicely.

"Yeah, a lot better." He smiles. "So, did you have fun with Charlie yesterday?" He asks me and I nod.

"Not at first, but it got better after…" I stop wondering if I should tell Edward everything that had happened.

"After…?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, Jacob asked me out, I rejected him, he tried to imply I was with you for your looks and money, I yelled at him, he apologized, his Dad apologized and so I forgave him. After all that, things got better. We watched football, ate then Charlie and Billy played their guitars. It was fun. Jacob stopped hitting on me and started treating me the way he would Emmett, we're okay now, I think." I blush embarrassed at saying all of that at once. After the words '_Jacob asked me out',_ Edward had started this low growling in his chest.

"Are you sure everything is okay, now?" I nod. He looks at Emmett, then Jasper; some weird eye communication going between them. I sigh, somehow I feel sorry for Jacob Black. Like his Dad said, he's just a silly fifteen year old boy with a crush. And now, I have this feeling he might be getting "talked" to again. Though, the last time Edward kissed me, so I guess Jacob getting 'talked to; wouldn't be all bad. I feel a little bad at that selfish thought, but can't hold back the smile thinking about Edward kissing me.

"You ready for another fun-filled week?" Alice comes up linking her arm with mine, rolling her eyes.

"Sure." I laugh saying that. "Are you ready for out Spanish test?"

"Oh my God, I forgot all about that!" She turns and glares at Jasper. "Jasper how could you use your mad tongue skills to clear my memory of having a test today?" She demands and he laughs, Edward groans and Alice, I think, she's serious. "_Just an hour, Alice baby, then I'll get you home so you can study, don't you want to spend time with me?"_ She mimics Jasper's voice. "_Five_ hours later, I'm lucky I remember there was school today." She sighs then leans over to whisper in my ear. "Totally worth it." She giggles and I hold back a laugh.

Outside of my first class, Edward is saying 'goodbye till later', his soft lips pressed onto mine. I sigh into them and he increases the pressure. I hear a throat clear and we pull apart, the face of my teacher is half indulgent, half warning.

"Sorry." I manage to get out in a quiet voice. The teacher gives a nod before going into the classroom. Edward is grinning.

"So, do my mad tongue skills clear your brain?" He jokes.

"I don't recall a tongue that time." I joke, then blush. "Though you frequently make me forget everything." I admit.

"Hmm…" He ponders with a very sexy smirk. _Sexy?_ Where did that come from?

"Ok, Edward, it's time for class, you can dazzle Bella later." Alice jokes pulling me into class with her. And I know she's right.

Edward dazzles me.

**~0~**

Charlie got a call on Tuesday that the therapist was going to be back early and wanted to see if I wanted to move my appointment to Friday, so I'd have the weekend to recover, since it was my first session. He jumped all over it and that's why I'm now sitting here at four in the afternoon, in the therapist's office with Emmett across from me, Charlie on one side and Edward on the other. Charlie is filling out forms, every so often asking me a question that he didn't know the answer to, so he could fill it out. I was thankful for him doing this, since my nerves have my hands shaking.

"Isabella Swan?" A voice calls and my head jerks up to see a woman about my height, with frizzy hair, slightly pudgy and a kind smile. I stand up and Edward and Charlie get up to follow. "Ahh… these are your forms?" She asks and I nod. She takes them from Charlie, but doesn't look at them. "Let's go to my office so we can start, ok?" I once again nod, nervous. I hold Edward's hand tightly, but the lady stops us walking. "Gentlemen, today it's just going to be Isabella and I, ok? I'm sure at some point in the near future, you will be having a session with us, but at first it's just going to be me and Isabella."

"Are you going to be ok with that, baby?" Edward gives the therapist a look, daring her to stop him if I really want him in there.

"She'll be fine." Charlie tells him pulling him back. "Bella, if you need us, we will be right here in this waiting room." He promises.

"Ok." I look at Edward and put my hand on the side of his face, he leans into it gently. "It will be fine." I promise him; and I hope I'm not lying. He gives a short nod, then looks one last time at the therapist before going to sit down.

The office is softly lit, two nice house lamps going with soft light bulbs. A soft blue colors the walls and two overstuffed chairs flank an equally overstuffed sofa. There is a large desk with an impressive black desk chair, several bookshelves that are messy, I have to fight the urge to go and start reorganizing them.

"So, Isabella, let me start by introducing myself, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Compton. Please, call me Liz." She smiles and it's kind. She looks so normal, wearing fairly casual clothes, so unlike of what I thought she would look like. "I hate being called Elizabeth, it reminds me of times I got caught doing things I shouldn't be doing when I was younger." She gives a mischievous smile. "Do you prefer being called Isabella?"

"Bella." I offer softly.

"Very pretty." She nods. "So, Bella, first off, I want to be open and honest with you; and I hope you will do the same with me. That is the only way that therapy is going to be helpful. If you hold back, tell lies or half truths, then the therapy is wasted, because how can we grow and heal, if we aren't dealing with the real problems."

"Ok." I promise. "Do I have to tell you everything right _now_?" I shift uncomfortably.

"No, Bella, it will take time, you will tell me things at your own pace. Some days you might not feel like talking about the past at all, so, we'll focus on the good that is in your life right now. This is about you, Bella, making yourself the best Bella you can be. A whole Bella, who is able to face the world knowing that she is a wonderful and deserving person."

"Did, umm… do you know about…" I want to say 'Renee', but her name won't come past my lips.

"Do I know _why_ you're here?" I nod. "Some of it only. Your father and Dr. Cullen have both spoken to me on the phone, trying to explain what they know about your life with your Mother. I, however, asked them to refrain. I want to hear it from you Bella, because you are the one it happened to. I want no preconceived ideas; I want to look at it from your eyes." She gives a faint smile. "Though Dr. Cullen has sent me a copy of your medical records and also transcripts from the recent trial. I haven't read them yet. I asked Dr. Cullen if any of your medical issues were life threatening or if he believed you to be suicidal, he said 'no' to both questions. So, for now, I haven't read either of them."

"She's in jail, but sometimes these memories come forth and it's like I'm back there, living with her. I worry that living with Charlie is a dream."

"It's very common for children, who had suffered from abuse, to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Flashbacks are often a symptom of that. You may not have that though, we will work to find the right diagnosis, so we can find the right course of treatment. For now, I'd like to suggest a weekly session on Fridays. So, you have the weekend to recover, some of these are going to be emotional, Bella, you may end up crying, yelling or screaming. Healing isn't easy."

"Do I have to go on medicine?" I ask.

"You may, I'm going to get Dr. Cullen to prescribe you a few tablets of Ativan to take as needed. Meaning, if you are having a panic attack, or begin having a flash back try and take one. It will help you relax, so you don't end up in the hospital again. I did read the medical report from Seattle, that's why I'm prescribing this. If you don't need it, don't take it." She smiles.

"Do I have to take it?"

"Bella, it's up to you. However, it will help you out when having a panic attack." I nod.

"Ok, I'll try." She smiles.

"Now, I meant to say this to start out with and I apologize for delaying it, but I do want to assure you that anything and everything you say in here is between us, _unless_ I believe you are being harmed or going to harm yourself. Meaning, you can sit here and say something about your Dad without worrying that I'm going to tell him what was said.

"That being said, though, I will meet with him periodically, because you are a minor and try to put him at ease. If therapy is going well, I will simply say things are going well. If things are not going well, I might give him a list of things he can do to help your progress at home. I will clear the list with you beforehand.

"I'm a firm believer that the patient's support system at home is part of the healing process. If you have a strong one, which from what I've seen today you do, I feel that it helps build on the foundations of therapy. Reinforcing what we work on, talk about and try to achieve. I will more than likely, in later sessions, ask you to bring them to one. That will be later. Though, I've found that the family is a great tool to utilize in helping a patient to heal, because while I see you one day a week for an hour, they see you seven days a week for much longer periods of time."

"When they come to the session, will I have to tell them everything?"

"Bella, you will only address what you wish to. Though, I will let them have an open floor to voice their concerns, or ask questions that you may or may not answer. When the time is right, we'll discuss it more, so don't worry about it." She looks at me reassuringly.

"Later." I repeat more to myself than to her.

"Later." She agrees. "Now, is there anything you want to talk about today? It can be anything at all. We can start as fast or as slow as you want. This session is about you, anything bothering you can be talked about here."

"Umm… I'm worried about Emmett." I mumble.

"Emmett?"

"My brother."

"Was that the boy who glared at me?" I giggle.

"No, that was _Edward_."

"And, Edward is?"

"My boyfriend." I blush.

"Well, good for you, Bella." She grins. "He seems very protective of you and very handsome." She gives a wink.

"He's wonderful." I sigh.

"So, Emmett?" She goes back to the point.

"He found out something's about his ex-girlfriend, whom he still cares about, and ever since, he has been so depressed and un… _un_-Emmett like." I get out.

"Bella, my best advice to you, is to tell Emmett that you are there for him. That you care, and if he needs to talk, you'll listen and not judge him. Remind him that you are his sister and therefore on his side. I don't know what she told him, but sometimes people just need a little time to process things on their own. If he has problems doing that, I'll be more than happy to suggest a colleague that can talk to him, to help him process this information."

"Why a colleague?"

"Because I make it a rule not to see two family members _unless_ it's for couple counseling. That way I don't have to worry about conflict of interest. Nor do I have to worry about each of you worrying that I've let something slip in a session that you didn't want the other one to know."

"I just want him to be happy again." I tell her.

"I'm sure he will be." She assures again. "Now, what I'd like you do for homework; and yes, you will have some," She grins. "I want you to write down the name of all the important people in your life and one word that describes how you feel about them. I want you to include your mother on this list, Bella. _One_ word, that's all I ask." I give a small nod.

"I think I can do that."

"I know you can." She hands me a card. "If you need me during the week, this is my number here and my cell phone for after hours. Sometimes, when your healing, you'll need more than just this hour's session. You might wake up in the morning and not be able to talk yourself out of bed, or have a panic attack that you just can't shake, call me. We are in this together, Bella."

"I will." I say, though I'm not sure if that is one hundred percent true.

"Bella, do you know why I came back early from vacation?" I shake my head in the negative. "Because I received a call from a concerned father saying his little girl came to him and asked for help. She asked for therapy to heal. I came back early because your strength to go to your father and ask him for help impressed me so much. I needed to meet you and get this started as soon as possible. Bella, I feel like you have one of the best chances I've ever seen of healing. Between the two of us and your support system, we will battle those past demons. I'm with you every step of the way."

"Thank you." I can't hold it back and a small tear forms in the corner of my eye. Maybe, just maybe, I have a chance of being whole. Maybe Renee's prediction that I'd never mount to anything, would never come true. Maybe, I could beat Renee. Maybe for once I'll win.

**Emmett's POV**

After therapy, we all went to the diner for dinner. Edward and Bella kept smiling at each other. I envied them and their bubble world. They seemed to anticipate what the other needed before they said it. At one point, Bella began to move and Edward handed her the salt, she blushed and thanked him. Another time, Edward had some ketchup spill on his face, but before it even got there, Bella was handing him napkins. Dad and I sat and watched them in awe. They helped me more than they can know though. That's why I'm sitting here at Victoria's house, trying to talk myself into going to knock on the door.

"Stalking me, Swan?" I look up and Vicky is standing beside the jeep grinning and I feel like a complete ass.

"No, I just…" Shit how do I put this?

"Just…?" She trails off and looks at me funny. "Why don't we go inside and talk, my parents aren't home. Mom is working the night shift and Dad is bowling with his league." I agree and follow her in. "So?" She confronts me.

"Vicky, I'm an ass, I haven't been fair to you and I've… shit! I've hurt you."

"Emmett, you're not an ass. I knew from the beginning that we had things to work on. If this is about calling me 'Rose' when I was blowing you, it's not… it hurt, but I'm over it."

"But, I'm not, Vicky. I like you so much, you are an awesome girl who deserves a guy who's going to love you and be there for you no matter what. I don't think that, that is me. At least, it's not right now. I have too much unresolved shit with Rose."

"We can work on it together." She argues. "Emmett, it might take time, but we can get there."

"Vicky, how can we get there when I'm still somewhere else?" I shake my head. "I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I'm not going to lead you on. My heart is still wrapped up in Rose. I might never get back with her, but right now she still owns my heart." I tell her honestly.

"It doesn't have to be like that, Em, I'm so much better for you than she is." She exclaims.

"_Maybe_ you are, maybe you're not. Vicky, I like you. I really do. But I'm not _in_ love with you; and I can't live this lie. I can't be your boyfriend, Vicky. I want to be your friend, but maybe things are too raw to go there right now."

"She isn't worthy of you, Emmett!" She screeches.

"And I'm not worthy of you, Vicky. You opened yourself up to me and I tried. I swear to God I tried. But fuck! I just can't get past it, get past her."

"Fuck you, Emmett!" She yells.

"I'm sorry, Vicky, I really am." I was letting her go, for her sake as well as mine. She needed to find a guy who could be with her and not be thinking of someone else.

"Go, Emmet, get the fuck out of here. Go run after your fucking Barbie doll. Let her treat you like her fucking slave, see if I'll be around to pick up the pieces again!"

"I'm so sorry, Vicky. But remember, I warned you from the start and I never lied to you."

"Just go." She says dejectedly.

I walk out into the crisp fall night, my heart aching for the girl I just left behind. She didn't deserve my crap. It was true, I told her a million times that I was still in love, still cared for Rose. I told her we could try and try I did. But I couldn't try anymore. I had too much going on. Too much baggage and I couldn't drag her down with me.

I needed to work things out still. I'm dealing with things more and more each day, though my guilt over Vicky had been depressing the crap out of me. Letting her go, oddly made me feel lighter. Like a weight was lifted off of me.

I have to work on the _Rose_ 'issue' next. What our future holds and all that. The thing is, I think I've already forgiven her for not telling me about our baby. She was just trying to protect me in some weird twisted way. I'm just not sure I can forget the pain she is capable of putting me through. I'm not sure I've forgiven her for the way she treated other people though; for lashing out on innocent people just because she was in pain. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget the look on my sister's face when she was sitting in that closet promising to be a good girl, all because Rose set her off.

That all being said, I know I need to talk to her, to confront her with these questions that have been plaguing me since she told me her story. To tell her how much pain I'm in. To tell her that I let Vicky go. I also know that I owe her an answer. She wants to know if we can be friends, if she can have some small fragment of my life, even if she is never more than a friend to me again. I owe her an answer to that. I owe her answers as she owes me the same.

Sitting in my jeep, I stare ahead and wonder, should I go home or should I go talk to Rose?

**AN2**:** Bella's first therapy session was calm, and based off my own from when I was younger and dealing with issues from an abusive father. Not all of them are going to go that easy, I will write out the more important session, but not ever single one of them. This story would becoming a gazillion chapters long lol. **

**I've decided to make Tuesday the regular update day for this story. I have a question for all of you though since we are so close to the first outtake, do you want me to post it in the story and just label it as outtake 1 or should I post the outtakes separately as a collection of outtakes?**

**Umm so since you are done with this chapter, if you have a spare ten minutes can I take a shameless self promotion moment and ask you to read my oneshot called To The Extreme, it's about a bad assed Motocross Edward ;0) **

**And I've joined the world of Facebook due to some urging from a friend and some readers. Just use the facebook(dot)com/**dontrunffw

**Reviews are love, and all we need is love ;0) lol**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :0), even while she is on vacation! Love ya bb. Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**AN: I know I know this is late, but I've been ill, and I was finishing up another story. Be warned that the therapy session in here is not really realistic of a second session, but I'm trying to move this along a little. I hope you enjoy the Edward POV of this chapter.  
**

**This I will be posting the 1st outtake as a separate story, and I hope to get chapter 25 out to all of you this week as well. **

**Thank all of you for your continued support of this story, it means a lot to me.  
**

**BPOV**

I'm sitting nervously beside Charlie in my therapist's waiting room. Overall it's been an odd week. It all began last week, after my first session. Emmett came home to let us know that he and Vicky had broken things off. He explained that his feelings for Rose were tainting anything he and Vicky could have had, so he decided to take more time, he wants to be sure of his choice this time before he decides which way to go. Starting that night, we began getting harassing phone calls. The person on the other end would just breathe and laugh. That resulted in Charlie getting the home phone number changed.

Vicky no longer sat with us during lunch, but back at - what Alice calls the - "artsy crowds" table. With this change I was a little sad, I had gotten used to Vicky being around; and now, I'm not sure where she and I stand. Was she just friends with me because she wanted my brother?

The odd centered around Rosalie Hale though.

On Wednesday, I went to the restroom and found her in there crying. She was coming out of a stall, her eyes all red rimmed and wet. She always seemed so strong and hard to me; seeing her crying, just seemed wrong. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, or whether she needed help, but my own fears held me back. I felt guilty over that and told Alice everything. I know she and Rose are trying to patch up their friendship, so I figured if I couldn't help Rosalie, then maybe Alice could.

On Thursday, Rosalie smiled at me and mouthed what looked to be 'Thank you'.

And today, she didn't show up at school. Odd. Just plain odd.

"Bella?" Liz calls. I get up to follow her, leaving Charlie waiting for me. "How was your week, Bella?" She asks as we walk into her office.

"It was ok." I say honestly, because overall it was ok.

"Well, that's better than it completely sucked, I guess." Liz jokes with a smile.

"It was a little odd, but it was fine." I promise her. She urges me to tell her about why I think the week was _odd;_ so, I fill her in. After nodding and going 'mmhmm' a few times, she smiles.

"Bella, I think you made the right decision to tell Alice about Rosalie's crying. I believe that is why she mouthed the 'thank you' to you. You helped her by getting involved when you didn't have to. As for why she wasn't at school today, there are many reasons. One of which is… _maybe_ she just needed a day at home and her parents allowed her that. I call them mental health days, where you just stay home do something that you enjoy and shut out the rest of the world. While doing this every so often is healthy, remember it's not something to do every day." She pauses. "Did you remember the homework from last visit?" I nod and pull out the paper to hand it to her. "Bella, I want you to read it out loud to me, if that's ok?" I nervously bite my bottom lip and nod at her.

"Ok."

"Now, before we begin, how did you decide to set up the list?"

"Alphabetically, it's just… I didn't want anyone's feeling to get hurt if I did it in order of their importance to me and I figured if I did it out alphabetically, then it would be the easiest way to do the list."

"Good, good. Though only you and I know about the list, Bella. Remember what goes on between us stays between us. This is a safe environment for you to speak freely." She motions towards the slightly crumpled paper. "You can start whenever you are ready." I take a deep breath.

"Ok, I put _Phil_ on here to because when you said Renee was important I figured that Phil would be too."

"Phil being Renee's late husband?"

"Yes, umm… he uhh… yeah…" I can't get out the words that he tried to rape and kill me.

"Ok, Bella, remember you are safe, these are just words on a piece of paper." Liz assures me.

"Words on paper." I mumble then start, "I'm not sure I did this right, but umm…

Alice: Fun

Carlisle: Smart

Charlie: Kind

Edward: Home

Emmett: Lovable

Esme: Dream

Jasper: Alice

Phil: Psychotic

Renee: Dread"

"Ok, now Bella, I'm going to ask you a few questions about the list." She smiles and takes my half nod as consent to go ahead. "For Jasper, you said Alice, why?"

"Jasper is dating Alice, he makes her happy and she makes him seem less intimidating. When I think Jasper, I automatically think of Alice too." I explain.

"Good answer." She approves and goes on to her next question. "With Esme you said _dream_, why was that?" She asks, it's not judgmental it's like she really wants to understand, but I can't help but blush.

"Umm… well, if I… if," I pause, looking at the floor before going on, "if I could pick out the perfect Mom, it would be her. She is like my dream Mom."

"And for Edward, you said home?"

"It was hard to pick just one word for Edward. I guess I went with 'home' because to me, he is everything home is supposed to represent. He makes me feel safe, secure and well-cared for. Home is where you are supposed to feel all of those things and uhh… yeah, Edward makes me feel that way. He feels like home." I'm not sure I'm making sense, but she seems to get it.

"Now, I know this isn't pleasant, but of all words, why _dread_ for Renee?"

"It's the overall feeling that Renee leaves in me, it's like…" I trail off, trying to find the perfect way to explain it. "I'm more than scared. It's more than fear even. When I think of dread, I think of something that I don't want to deal with, don't want to be near, something that I wish I could push off for the rest of my life." I take a deep breath. "I dread the day Renee gets out of jail. I dread the day she will come after me for her revenge. Just as I dreaded every day when I would come home from school and know that she would be there, or be there shortly." The words flew from my mouth and probably made very little sense to Liz, but to me they made perfect sense.

"Thank you for sharing that, Bella." She smiles softly. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you are uncomfortable with any of them to the point that you don't feel you can answer, please let me know and we will revisit them at a later date."

"Ok."

"Let's start with Phil." She says I think mainly to herself. I cringe, though Phil is my second least favorite subject. "Your father gave me copies of the police reports for when Phil broke into your home and was subsequently shot and then later died. While I didn't read them in detail, because like I told you before, I wanted to hear everything from your side of the story, I did read your affidavit to the police. So I'm aware of what happened that day." She explains.

"Ok." I really didn't have an answer to that, so I just _okayed_ it, like I generally do.

"Bella, was that the first time that Phil ever tried to molest or rape you?"

"Umm… he's never touched me before. Sexually, I mean, if that's what you are asking."

"When Phil showed up at the house planning on raping you, was this the first time he tried to intimidate you sexually?"

"He, umm… he never raped me, I'm still a virgin if that's what you are asking." I shift uncomfortably in my chair. I really didn't want to go on this line of questioning.

"Bella, I'm not talking about rape, though, I am very happy to know that he didn't. What I'm asking is, did he ever mentally use sex as power over you. Was the threat there?"

"I caught him watching me shower." I tell her softly. "Renee's other boyfriends never did anything like that, I was so scared. Umm… about two days before I was sent to live with Charlie, I woke up and he was standing beside my bed touching himself, Renee walked in and called me a slut and all kinds of names. Phil just stood there laughing." I shudder at the memory.

"Bella, do you need to stop?" She asks softly.

"No, umm… I think I'm ok." I try to assure her.

"Bella, the reason I'm asking is in order for me to know the best way to treat your needs for therapy. If you were raped, that would be something I needed to know for this treatment to work in the long run. I know he attempted to rape you and we will deal with that at a later date, I don't think at this point you are ready to discuss that, nor do you trust me enough yet for me to be able to help you heal from it."

"Ok, later." Later is good, I agree, wanting to get away from the subject of Phil.

"Why don't we talk about something lighter for the last bit of today's session. Bella, why don't you tell about something in your life that makes you truly happy?"

"Noel." I say softly.

"And who is Noel?"

"My baby." I sigh a little happy. "She is cute and fluffy and she loves me no matter what." I pull out my cell phone and show her the picture of Noel that I have as my wallpaper.

"She's adorable." Liz says, her smile extremely warm. "Did your Dad get her for you?"

"No, Edward did." I sigh again. I'm reminding myself of Alice. "She was a surprise. But Charlie said I could keep her and bought this whole box of supplies for her in pink, it was nice." I tell her excitedly.

"Wow, that's a great gift from both of them." She tells me.

"Noel always makes me feel better, when I have bad days, I can just hold her and she'll cuddle into me. She loves to lick my nose. She's soothing to be around." I look at her hoping she doesn't take this next part the wrong way. "And the best part is that I can trust her, I don't have to worry about her suddenly changing. She is a lot easier to trust than humans."

"Oh, Bella, it's true animals are soothing and, yes they are loyal companions if treated right and cared for. But not all people are going to turn on you." She looks me directly in the eyes and says sincerely. "It's in my own opinion that, that man out there, your Father would do anything for you and your brother. He loves you, I could tell from the way he watches you and the fact that the chief of Police is sitting here for a second Friday in a row instead of being on duty just to support his daughter. Sometimes, Bella, actions speak louder than words." She gently pats my knee.

"Sometimes Renee would be nice to me, she took me to the zoo once, but then the next day she wasn't nice at all."

"Bella, Charlie isn't Renee. While it's completely normal, rational and understandable that you have worries and reservations about trusting him, I want you to start paying more attention to how he acts, rather than what he says. He can tell you a million times that he loves you, but 'the proof is in the pudding', so they say. Watch for the simple things, the way he looks at you, the way he'd do about anything for you. Trust takes a while to build in someone who had their trust broken at such a young age by the person who should love them more than any other person on the planet. But you will get there."

"Do you really think he loves me?" I whisper.

"Bella, he brought you into his home no questions asked, he shot a man for you and the minute you asked for help, he brought you here. I say, those are definite signs he loves you." She smiles widely.

"Now for homework, I want you to take five minutes every night this week and look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are worth being loved and that Renee was the one in the wrong. Let's start rebuilding your confidence."

"Ok." I agree and we finish the session by shaking hands.

I go out to meet Charlie who is sitting in a chair bouncing his knee reading Fisherman's Weekly. I clear my throat a little and he looks up, when he realizes it's me, he smiles, a warm happy one.

"Everything ok, kiddo?" I nod. "How about we pick up a pizza for dinner?"

"Ok."

"Probably should get two with Emmett eating." He says thoughtfully and I giggle.

"Probably." I agree and somehow his smile gets larger. He seems happy to see me smiling. Thinking about it, he always seems to smile whenever I smile. Maybe Liz is right? Just maybe he really does, if nothing else, care about me. Perhaps even love?

**Edward's POV**

The weeks seemed to be passing faster than normal. September had already gone and October coming to a close very soon. Bella has been in therapy for over a month now and you can see small changes in her. Nothing major and nothing that has changed the wonderful girl that I care for so much. If anything it has enhanced her. She smiles more. She laughs more and she jokes more. It's cute as hell when she tells a joke then blushes after doing it.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night when I get to take her to the Homecoming dance. She even admitted to being excited about it as well. Explaining to me that the dress she bought was simple, but pretty and that she felt comfortable in it. She blushed when she told me she couldn't dance and I informed her that she did just fine when we danced before. However, because this was in front of our peers and not some people on a boat, I gave Bella a few lessons to help her feel more confident going to the dance.

Where Bella is quietly excited, Alice on the other hand has been going nuts around the house in happy overdrive. She dances at random moments and squeals with delight that she is going to see Jasper in a suit. I'm worried about my sister's mental state.

Emmett wasn't going to attend the dance, but when Ben Cheney, Angela Webber's boyfriend came down ill with chicken pox of all things, he asked Emmett to step in. He didn't want Angela's dress to go to waste. Angela and Emmett both agreed. I think Emmett was relieved, because he could attend the dance and watch out for Bella, without having to worry that his date was thinking this might be more than just two people attending a dance as friends.

And while, like I said, I'm looking forward to taking her to the dance, I'm mainly excited because I'll get to see my beautiful Bella in a dress and have an excuse to hold her close to me for a couple of hours. A couple hours where I can touch the bare skin that I'm sure her dress will expose. Maybe a naked arm I can caress. Soft, sweet Bella flesh to run under my fingers gently…

"Edward, do you think this is too spicy?" Bella pulls me out of my thoughts handing me a spoonful of chili. We were attending the senior trip fundraiser tonight. It was a pot luck dinner, but everyone who is attending paid five dollars a head to get in. Plus, there are raffles and games to earn more money to make sure all the seniors get to go skiing together in January.

"It's perfect, baby." I tell her, kissing the top of her head. She decided to make chili, as well as a ton of her extra fudgy brownies. Charlie had gone out and bought her two huge pots for cooking and delivering the chili in and two massive storage containers for the brownies. Bella wanted to make sure there was enough for everyone.

"Do you think I should make something to go with it?" She bites her bottom lip, she's nervous that she isn't doing enough. "Maybe some cornbread?"

"Bella, this is more than enough, baby, ten times more than some will do." I assure her. "Plus, Mom is bringing homemade cheese biscuits along with chicken and dumplings. Mama Whitlock is making a sweet potato casserole, along with a chicken noodle casserole. I'm one hundred percent sure no one will go hungry."

"Ok." She sighs and leans into me. I wrap my arms around her and just hold her for a moment.

I love just holding Bella quietly. She's warm in my arms and smells of her sweet pea scented body wash from Bath and Body Works. I close my eyes and breathe in the calming scent of Bella. I can feel her relaxing in my arms and I squeeze a little tighter and she squeezes me back. It's a perfect moment. Just Bella and I.

I lean down and press my lips gently to hers. She responds in her sweet way. A little sigh, a bit of pressure added to show that she is with me one hundred percent. I suck her bottom lip lightly; she runs her hands up my spine, taking purchase of my shirt in a death grip. I slip my tongue out, tracing her lips; she sighs and opens her mouth for me to enter. She meets my tongue now with her own and I can't believe how far we've come from the first time we tried this. My tongue thanks God that she no longer bites down on it, while I thank God for the woman in my arms.

I slowly begin to move my hands lower and gently cup her behind. She jumps a little, but doesn't pull her mouth from mine. Opening my eyes I see a clear spot on the counter and I lift her up to place her there. Standing between her legs, I move my lips to kiss her neck. Her little nipples bead up and it takes all I have not to touch them. I pepper little kisses along her collar bone and she groans.

"Oh, Edward." She whispers, it sounds like she is happy, so I do it again.

Her legs wrap around my waist, she moves and pulls my head up. Her beautiful eyes are dark, her lips red and well-loved. She pushes forward, for the first time taking complete control and kisses me again, this time sliding her tongue into my mouth first. I moan with pleasure and work hard not to grind the ever growing problem in my pants against her.

"Eww! Shit people, some of us have to eat in here!" Emmett exclaims coming into the kitchen. "My eyes, I need bleach, my eyes!" He yells. Bella does what I expect least from her, she starts giggling. Then it turns to a full on laugh.

"Grow up, Emmett, I've seen you do worse." I tell him. Because seriously I have, I walked in on him and Rose butt naked having sex a couple of times. One time in my bedroom. Needless to say, I made Mom get me a new bed and burned the linens.

"Hey, kids, what's up?" Ok now I'm thankful Em broke us up, Charlie has on his holster.

"Cooking." Bella says hurriedly.

"Wow, Bells, I bet a sample bowl wouldn't be missed from that pot of good smelling food…" Emmett uses puppy dog eyes on her and she giggles again.

"_One_ bowl." She puts her hands on her little hips and stares at him sternly, but with a beautiful smile on her face.

"Promise, sis, one big bowl." She rolls her eyes and fills him a healthy sized portion.

"Anyone else?" She offers and both Charlie and I agree.

The four of us sit around eating the chili, which is perfect, not too hot, full of flavor and the meat isn't in hard little balls. Charlie tells us about his day, which includes breaking up Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton having a fight in front of Newton Outfitters. He didn't go into details, but did warn us that Mike has a black eye now.

"I made extra brownies." She tells us pulling down a plate from a cabinet.

"You are a Goddess amongst women, sis." Em informs her.

"All of this is wonderful, Bella." Charlie complements her, a warm smile on his face. "I'm sure everyone is going to love it tonight."

"I agree, Bella." I add.

"Kids, let me go change and we can get headed over to the gym. I know Bella promised Esme she'd be there a little early to help set up and I'm sure they could use our help." Charlie says and I nod.

"Can do, Pops." Em mumbles around his second brownie.

"Emmett, save room for later." Charlie tells him, rolling his eyes at the mess that is his son's eating habits.

"Always room, Dad." Emmett pats his stomach and Bella starts giggling again. It's such a beautiful sound.

**Charlie's POV**

Overall, the fundraiser for the senior trip went well. They had a silent auction, the raffle and game tables on top of all the food. And in the end, they raised enough for the trip, so the bake sale in November - that generally happens to pick up the slack of tonight - was no longer needed. I was glad, because there were a few kids from less fortunate families that could never afford to go on this trip without this fund. And this way, no one is embarrassed because the school pays for everything.

"Did you kids have fun?" I ask Emmett and Bella who were riding back home with me. Edward was with his parents, the pout on my daughter's face was enough clue about her disappointment.

"Yes." Bella responds cuddling the huge teddy bear Edward won for her in some game tonight. He also bought her a pretty necklace with a rose gold butterfly charm on it from the silent auction. From the way some of the other ladies eyed it, I have this feeling it wasn't cheap.

"It was fun and the food, oh man, the food." Emmett moans.

"I can't believe how many people wanted my chili recipe." Bella says shyly.

"It went over well." I agree. The girl cooked like a dream, something I know for a fact she didn't get from her Mother. I'd like to think it was my own late Mom's genes that gave her that little something extra that makes her such a wonderful cook. "So the dance is tomorrow?" I ask, though I already know that it is.

"Yep." Em replies.

"Alice is coming over around eleven, she's going to do my nails and hair because she knows I don't like strangers touching me." Bella says. And it's true, Bella isn't big on strangers touching her.

"Is Alice getting ready at our house?" I ask.

"Yeah, she says that way Jasper and Edward can ride over together in the car to get us. We'll get Angela along the way." I smile to myself.

For the past few weeks my baby girl has been becoming more and more vocal. Still quiet, but she doesn't 'umm' as much and she speaks with more confidence. And I'll never forget the day she went to address me after therapy and she went, 'Da… Charlie...' So close to being called Dad. I can't wait for that day. And if she ever calls me _Daddy,_ I know I will die a happy man.

**AN2: Review? Please? **

**To The Extreme is being continued as a full length story, the second chapter is up now if you are interested. It's a lot different from this story, however as with the majority of my stories there will be a strong family connection with the Cullens.  
**

**For those who don't follow my blog I have posted a Polyvore of the Homecoming dresses, and no that isn't this chapter but I thought I would share. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A big thanks to TwiDi for beta'ing this for me, have I mentioned her fic You Don't Know Anything is all kinds of awesome. **

**AN: Pretty much a fluffy chapter, but it has the lead up to an important event. Visual/auditory aids are on the blog if you want them :0)  
**

**Bella's POV**

Alice arrives at exactly eleven am. She comes in with her dress tossed over her shoulder and trudging behind her was a very tired looking Carlisle. Who is carrying two large hot pink makeup travel cases. It was amusing to watch the tall and very manly looking doctor carrying his itty bitty daughters pink cases like her own personal pack mule.

"Morning Bella." Carlisle greets me.

"Good morning Dr. Cullen." I reply shyly. I'm still a little nervous around him, I can't help it. He raises his eyebrow and smiles. "I mean Carlisle." He grins.

"Hey Bella, are you ready for a day of making us even more beautiful than we already are?" Alice is bubbly and bouncing. I think perhaps she has imbibed in a little caffeine.

I learned the hard way never to let her have caffeine, Edward refers to it as _The Red Bull Incident_. I call it the day Alice went insane. She was talking so fast and moving so fast that I ended up calling Charlie at the station to come help me get her out of Newton's Outfitters, where she was yelling about hunting gear all being in ugly shades, and that they needed some more fashionable colors if they ever wanted her business. She then picked up some of the fake worms and screamed about selling them was cruelty to animals, I have no clue where that came from either. Both Mrs. Newton and I were ecstatic to see my Dad show up.

_My Dad._ If only I could call him that, it was like a block in my throat keeping me from saying it out loud. Liz keeps assuring me that when the time is right the word will come out. Until then I just hope Charlie Swan doesn't give up on me.

"Earth to Bella?" Alice giggles while snapping her fingers at me.

"Sorry. Yea, I'm ready."

"Let's go beautify!" She fist pumps reminding me of Emmett and I relieve Carlisle of the makeup cases.

"Ok." I smile and follow her up the stairs.

_Here goes nothing._

~0~

It was a whirl of hair, makeup and nylons. Alice went through three pair, her fake nails kept ripping them. Our dresses went on, Alice's a vibrant purple with black designs. It was fun, flirty and gorgeous just like Alice. She helped me zip my simple black dress, she assures me that it's not only beautiful, but it is very me.

"Bella, the beauty is in the understatement. You're not trying to draw attention, but you do anyways because you are so lovely. The dress is very much like you. It looks like it would be simple on the hanger, but on it accentuates every good part of your body, makes your skin glow ivory, it says I'm not trying to be beautiful, I just am. And you are Bella." She hugs me and I hug her back. Tears well in the corners of my eyes, that sweet statement means more to me than she could ever understand.

"Car is here let's roll!" Emmett bellows up the stairs. Alice and I pull out of our hug both wiping away the slight dampness under our eyes.

"It's time." Alice sing songs and I smile following her down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs Edward is standing tall, looking extremely handsome in his black suit, and sapphire blue and black striped tie. He smiles up at me and the flutter in my tummy changes, increases, but not from nerves, from something more. It feels good, I feel good and warm. I smile back and walk towards my beautiful boy.

**Edward's POV **

She cautiously walks down the steps, she doesn't float, she doesn't saunter. She walks and it's sweet and normal. It makes my heart beat a little faster. Her legs encased in nylons and her dress shows a small delicious hint of her cleavage and my body responds. My Bella is beautiful, scars and all. Though in the dress you can't see the scars I know they are there, both inside and out. Tonight I hope to bring her some happy memories to help push some of those hurtful, bitter away. I have a theory that the more happy we can give her, the more we can push the bad away.

"You look stunning." I tell her simply.

"You too." She blushes. I hold in my chuckle at her sweetness and take her right hand and kiss it. I didn't think it was possible, but she blushes even more.

"Alright Romeo let's go get our dance on." Em interrupts our sweet moment and before I can glare at him I notice Bella doing it for me.

"Pictures!" Chief Swan runs out with his camera. "Esme threatened my life if I don't get pictures." He grumbles.

We pose, Emmett taking various goofball poses, including one where he is choking Jasper. I feel bad for him. We have to pick his "date" up still, but she isn't who he thought he would be going to this dance with. Now here he is in a room with happy couples, with his perpetually single father taking photos of us and you have to wonder if he's worried that is going to be him someday. There are so many photos of my parents, the Whitlocks and Charlie going to different events, Charlie always going stag. This image has to be flashing in Emmett's head. I clap him on the shoulder and I want to remind him that he's still young, but I don't want to bring up the topic if he isn't thinking it.

"Alright, I've filled up this memory card thing, you can go." Charlie laughs. "Remember twelve thirty curfew."

"Got it Pops." Emmett tells his Dad.

"Ok." Bella smiles softly at Charlie.

Bella and Charlie.

Bella has been telling me that her therapist has been trying to help her move past calling Charlie, Charlie and into calling him Dad. Her therapist isn't forcing this on her, this is something Bella wants to do. She told me that the word gets stuck in her throat, she freezes up and has to say Charlie instead. I assure her that she will get there when the time is right and that Charlie will wait.

"Earth to Edward?" Jasper pulls me from my thoughts and I roll my eyes.

"Yea?"

"Do you want to get in the car, or are you just going to stand by it?" I look around and notice that the girls are already in the limo along with Emmett, who is talking about being freaking P Diddy, pimp riding in the limo.

"Let's roll."

~0~

"Holy crap." Alice gets my attention. We've been at the dance for about twenty minutes and claimed our table.

"What?"

"Look over there." She whispers in my ear and I follow where her eyes are pointing. Across the gym I see Vicky, she is in some tight ass green dress. It looks more like a night club, or hooker dress than something appropriate for a high school dance.

"Alice maybe it's all she could afford." I try to be polite, everyone knows that Vicky's family isn't made of money.

"Please, she could have gotten something with more taste from the Goodwill or Target. That dress screams hoochie momma." Angela over hears us and looks.

"Is she trying to pick up some extra cash in the hooker garb?" Angela, sweet Angela shocks me. "I mean my dress was cheap, but I don't look cheap in it." She argues with my raised eyebrow.

"Maybe she didn't realize it looks ummm…" Bella trails off, trying to be nice.

"Like a hooker dress?" Alice fills in.

"Yes." Bella whispers.

"And Angela, your dress is adorable, where did you get it?" Alice presses with a genuine smile and interest.

"Forever 21's website. They have some really reasonably priced cute clothes." She informs us. I can see my baby sister storing this knowledge away.

"I really like it, it gives you good curves and great cleavage." Alice continues.

"Jeesh Ali, she's going to think you're hitting on her." Jasper mutters and Bella giggles.

"Mrs. Cope just caught two freshmen trying to spike the punch." Emmett says sitting down. He just came back from getting a drink.

"I swear every year." Jasper tosses out. "Remember last year when they didn't get caught and half the gym was wasted before ten?" Everyone but Bella laughs at the memory. "Bella you should have seen it, Newton was so loaded he was hitting on Rose in front of Emmett." Jasper zips up when it hits him what he said. "Sorry dude."

"It's all good bro, it happened. It was funny." He assures us.

"Speaking of Rose." Angela points over to where Rosalie just walked in with Eric Yorkie.

"God, what is up with her and Dorkie Yorkie?" Emmett complains.

"Why don't you ask her Emmett?" Alice advises.

"Whatever." He mumbles and Alice just looks sad. Bella reaches over and rubs his back and he smiles gently at her.

"Did you see your other ex?" Alice points to Vicky and Em's jaw drops.

"What the hell is she wearing?" He asks shocked.

"That's what we've been saying." Jasper tells him. "Dance?" He asks Alice and she giggles, flutters her eye lashes and pops up out of her seat.

"Yes, yes, yes." Did someone give her caffeine today?

"Angela would you like to dance?" Em asks politely and she nods.

"Please, so I can tell Ben I actually danced, he made me promise to." She says sweetly.

"Dance with me Bella?" He brown eyes look at me and she gives a small nod.

We walk to the dance floor as some fast paced pop tune that I can't place plays. Bella follows my lead with steps. We've been working on her dancing lately, though fast dances aren't her strong suit. She has been working on it and doing so much better with it lately.

Our hips move in time, she has a cute bounce, she's happy. It makes me happy.

"You're doing great." I tell her and she smiles.

"Thank you." Her smile is thanks enough. An idea comes to me.

"Bella wait right here for just one moment." Jasper and Alice are beside us, and they encompass Bella in their dancing. I think Alice is teaching her the bump or something.

I rush over to the dj booth and pass the guy some money, he promises after this song he will play my choice. The song is perfect for Bella. I go back to the dance floor and pull her back to me. She giggles when I jokingly twirl her around.

"This is a special dedication going out from Edward to his Bella." The fast music fades and the soft strands begin to play. Bella's blush takes over and I pull her into my arms.

"Who is this?" She asks softly.

"Death Cab for Cutie." She nods into my shoulder, squeezing me tightly. We sway as the words flow over us.

_Earth angel, earth angel: will you be mine?  
My darling dear, love you all the time.  
I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you._

_Earth angel, earth angel; the one I adore.  
Love you forever, and ever more.  
I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.  
_

I sing softly into her ear the next verse, "I fell for you and I knew the vision of your love, loveliness. I hoped and I prayed that some day I'd be the vision on your happiness." She sighs softly then places her lips gently against mine and the music keeps playing.

_Earth angel, earth angel: please be mine?  
My darling dear, love you all the time.  
I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you._

I run my hand down her smooth arm, she curls into me even further. I can feel her warmth through my dress shirt. She smells sweet, like vanilla.

_I fell for you and I knew the vision of your loveliness,  
I hope and I pray that some day I'd be the vision on your happiness._

_Earth angel, earth angel: please be mine?  
My darling dear, love you all the time.  
I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you._

"Thank you." She says with a smile, her eyes glassy.

"I'm glad you liked it sweet Bella." I kiss her forehead gently.

I lean down to kiss her lips and the music changes to a rap tune that I'm not familiar with. Bella looks around at the gyrating people and I hear her tiny groan. Our sweet moment interrupted I take her over to the refreshment table where I hand her a cupcake that has a fall leaf design on it.

"Thank you." She bites into it and I look away, I can't fight the horny teenage boy in me.

I grab some punch and we watch our classmates for a moment from the sidelines. When the music changes to the latest Rob Thomas song, I grab Bella and lead her back to the dance floor. The slow song giving me an excuse to hold her close again. I lean down to place my lips back on hers. I can taste the sweet frosting, and the even sweeter Bella. She sighs into my lips, and I curl my arms tighter around her. It was perfect, peaceful, heaven. If only it could have lasted. A loud noise breaks into our little bubble and jerks us apart. I hear two loud female screams and the music stops.

"Chick fight!" Somebody screams and there is a rush to the other side of the gym. My instinct is to get Bella out of here as quickly and safely as possible. I go to grab her hand and she looks at me wide eyed and points to my pint sized baby sister running towards the fight.

"Alice no!" I shout, but I don't think she can hear me over the roar of the crowd. I don't see Jasper or Emmett anywhere, and I know that I need to get my sister out of that mess before she gets hurt. "Baby stay here, I have to get Alice out of there." She nods.

I rush over and see Jasper and Emmett trying to break up the fight. When I get a good look at the participants I'm mildly shocked. Rosalie and Victoria are choking each other, pulling hair, and throwing punches. Emmett's arms keep trying to pull Rose back, while Jasper is grabbing for Vicky. Alice is no help at all, she's busyscreaming_ 'kick her ass Rose!'_ Our classmates have formed a circle around the fight trying to keep the teachers away. I move in, working my way in past Newton and Yorkie. Newton grabs my shoulder and I look back.

"Dude be careful, it's a fucking war zone." He warns me.

"How did it start?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Rose and Em were dancing, Vicky saw it and jumped Rose. And you know Rosalie…" He trials off and I nod. I know Rosalie, she has never been one to let anyone get away with messing with her.

I signal to Newton that I'm going in, and walk forward towards the fight. Jasper looks relived when he sees me. Victoria is in his arms, kicking her legs, jerking forward. I look to Emmett and Rosalie is doing the same to him.

"Alice, go back over there with Bella." I command.

"Edward…" She goes to argue and I point.

"Go, or I'll tell Mom and Dad, and with your birthday in just a few weeks do you really want to get in trouble?" She shakes her head in the negative.

"Tattle tale." She taunts like a small child.

"For your own good, now go." She pushes her way back towards where Bella is standing and I go in to help my friends.

"Calm your ass down." Jasper is warning Victoria.

"Bite me asshole, that bitch is going to pay." She growls at him.

"Bitch? I'd rather be a bitch than a skanky ass hoe like you!" Rose yells at Vicky.

"Someone called the cops!" I hear Alice yell from behind me and the circle begins to break as kids run. It's one thing to keep the teachers out, another to explain to your parents that you got arrested.

"Emmett, take Rose through the exit doors behind you, I'll grab Bella, Alice and Angela and meet you around the side with the limo. Jasper, deposit Vicky somewhere and meet us out there." They nod and Emmett hauls Rose over his shoulder before taking off in a run.

I catch Jasper's eye, I can tell he's just giving Emmett time to get away before letting go of Vicky. I make it back to the girls and tell them we are heading to the car. Alice is refusing to go without Jasper, who about thirty seconds later is at my side.

"Let's go, if Charlie shows up we are all dead." He says and I agree.

"Silly Jasper, I just yelled that to help." Alice laughs. I roll my eyes at her, but thankful for her quick thinking.

"Emmett?" Bella asks softly, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Is going to meet us out there baby. Let's go."

When we get to the car Emmett is already inside, along with a very pissed off Rosalie. She silent and keeps tossing Em death glares. The driver takes us away from the school, and I explain to Emmett that Alice made up the police being called, he visibly relaxes.

"I could eat a horse." He tells us all.

"I could eat too." Jasper offers.

"Ryan can you take us to the diner please?" I ask the driver, he gives us a thumbs up and we head for food.

**Bella's POV **

The Homecoming dance started out wonderful, and ended oddly. I can't say it was bad, I mean the fight was bad. However the outcome in the aftermath seemed to outweigh the fight. After we all got into the car Edward had the driver take us to the diner for milkshakes and burgers. All of us, including Rosalie. She tried to argue at first that she just wanted to go home but in the end she went with us. The longer we sat at the table, relaxing and talking the more she seemed to open up. The more she seemed to talk with Emmett.

It's been a week but I can see the difference in my brother. He has been less mopey and more like the Emmett I met when I first got here. I catch him on the phone having long serious talks, or laughing. When he sees me he mouths 'Rose', and I know they are working on their issues. While Rosalie still intimidates me, and I'd really rather not be in a room alone with her, I'm happy that Emmett is happy again. I asked him if they were back together and he told me no, but that they were trying to at least be friends again. The smile on his face when he told me that, I'd do about anything to help keep there.

"Bella are you about ready to go?" Emmett pulls me out of my thoughts and I smile at him.

"Yea, let me grab the bag of food." I go into the kitchen and grab the bag of snacks I made up earlier.

Tonight Emmett and I are heading to the Cullens. It's Halloween and it was decided that were going to have a small get together. After the craziness of the Homecoming dance, we all agreed to watching a bunch of scary movies, and gorging on junk food. I've never celebrated Halloween before, it was just another holiday that Renee told me was to good for me. Edward upon hearing this offered to take me Trick or Treating, but I would have felt silly at my age doing something like that. I'm more than happy with the plan for this evening.

"Did Alice tell you she invited Rose?" Emmett asks helping me with the bag.

"Yes, she actually asked me first, to make sure I was ok with it."

"Are you ok with Rose being there Bells?" He asks seriously.

"Yes." _I think. _

"Ok then." He smiles and we head out to his jeep.

~0~

By the end of The Ring, I was half way onto Edward's lap, Noel all the way in my lap. I'm not sure I like scary movies. I mean the suspense is one thing, being scared out of your mind is another. The phone rings and I jump a mile off the sofa. Rosalie laughs and I look at her.

"The first time I watched this, I jumped for a week whenever the phone rang." She explains with a smile.

Rosalie had been surprising this evening. First she has been nice, I mean out of her way nice at times. I worried at first that she was just trying to get on my good side to get Emmett back, but Alice pulled me into the kitchen earlier to explain that what I'm seeing is the old Rose.

"Alice crawled in her closet and refused to come out until Dad came home." Edward tells me. "Of course I got grounded for letting my kid sister watch the movie." He rolls his eyes.

"I was twelve, of course it was your fault." Alice pouts, then giggles. "His grounding lasted all of one day."

"Still it was one day of my life, I could have been doing something else." Edward argues.

"What? Jasper and Emmett were allowed to come over, you just couldn't leave the house." Alice argues back.

"Alright you two, simmer down now." Jasper laughs.

Alice goes to say something but is interrupted by Esme coming into the room, she looks frazzled and is wringing her hands together.

"What's wrong Mom?" Edward asks.

"Emmett and Bella are going to be spending the night, Charlie is on his way over with clothes and their toothbrushes." She tells us, not making eye contact.

"Mom what happened?" Edward pushes.

"Can I get you kids anything else?" Esme ignores Edward, looking around the room quickly, her face pale.

"Mom…" Edward goes to say something and Emmett interrupts.

"Esme, what happened? Seriously we need to know." He implores.

"I think…" She trails off, and I look up to see what caught her attention. Charlie is standing in the doorway with two bags.

"What happened is someone toilet papered the front lawn, and broke into the house. Nothing was stolen, but there was some vandalism." He says calmly. "It's Halloween, and some rowdy kids decided to have fun with the police chief's house I'm guessing." He tries to reassure us, but I squeeze Edward's hand tight.

"So you think this has nothing to do with the phone calls, or the weird "gifts" that have been left on our front porch?" Emmett presses.

"Em, for tonight we are leaving it as kids acting up. The house is being checked for fingerprints, and both you and Bella are staying here tonight. We will know more tomorrow." Charlie assures Emmett, then looks at me. "Are you ok baby girl?" I give a small nod then asks the pressing thought in my mind.

"Did umm, did you make sure Renee is still in jail?" I almost whisper.

"First call I made, she is locked up nice and tight." He assures me and I sigh with relief.

"Rosalie, Jasper why don't you both spend the night as well, I'll call your parents and explain." Esme offers. Both agree. Charlie and Esme head back up the stairs to make the calls to Jasper and Rosalie's parents. In the silence I hear Alice sigh and see Emmett clinch his fist. I look down at Noel and sigh as well.

"Thank God we remembered to take Noel with us." I say out loud. We had gotten down the street earlier when I remembered to go back for my baby. She had been napping on my bed oblivious to being left alone.

"Whoever did this, I'm going to kick their ass." Emmett tells me.

"Do you think Charlie's right and it's just kids playing a prank on the police chief?" I ask him.

"I hope so Bells, but something feels off about this." I nod in agreement.

"Don't worry we'll find out what happened baby." Edward assures me, pulling me into his arms.

"Even if we have to go all Scooby gang, we'll figure it out." Emmett says and Alice laughs.

"Jasper, you are so Shaggy." She starts giggling, pointing at his blond curls.

"You're lucky I love you short stuff." He says and she stops and looks at him.

"I love you too Shaggy." They share this intense look and smile serenely at one another. I have to look away, it's too much. I see Rosalie look at the ground. She flicks her eyes at Emmett, but looks away quickly. I can tell she is trying to hold back her emotions, and I feel bad for her. I hear someone on the steps again and look to see Esme entering the game/movie room.

"Kids your parents are fine with a sleep over, and Rose your Mom is bringing you some clean clothes in the morning. Jasper, you can just borrow something of Edward's to wear." She says sweetly. "Now I want all of you to put this out of your heads as best you can and have fun. Tomorrow is another day, and we will know more then." She tells us.

"Ok Mom." Alice agrees.

"Tomorrow." Edward agrees as well.

"Tomorrow." Emmett agrees in a hard voice. I look over at Emmett and our eyes meet and I feel like we silently exchange that he won't be able to put this out of his head any more than I can. We both know that there is nothing we can do tonight, but that tomorrow we will both try our best to find out what happened. Find out who did this, and see if we are really safe in our home.

Tomorrow.

**AN2: Reviews are always nice, and I'm actually going to try and reply to them this time *I know author fail with that and I apologize.* All of you who have been so supportive, and understanding thank you so much. I'm still working my way through the great private messages that some of you sent to support me when I needed it. **

**If you haven't check out To The Extreme yet, it's already 5 chapters, it's my fun/sexy fic where I go to let off steam. I've found alternating writing that and Homecoming makes the writing process go quicker for me. **

**For those of you waiting on a Prodigal Returns update, when I get a chapter I like I'll post it.  
**

**Here are some stories that I HIGHLY recommend reading, I put the story then the story id beside it, if you don't know how to insert the story id, I'm also going to do a blog update with the full addresses so you can just click on the link. The blog has a few more links then this too...  
**

**An Angel Closes Her Eyes** 5880132

**blossom **5614106

**Empty Panes and Pretty Things *complete***5591160

**Fade Into You** 6014591

**Fate & Forgotten Secrets** 5331891

**Fugue Forgotten** 5664578

**Paper CutOuts** 5993984


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Many thanks and lots of love goes out to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :0) This story wouldn't be readable without her mad skills. Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**AN: Long story short RL got in the way, but I finally got this chapter out. I'm sorry it took so long. I really hope the reveal doesn't let anyone down... This chapter is dedicated to the girls on the Twilighted Thread, who's theories/speculations and encouragements kept me writing ;0)**

**Also many thanks to ****mehek18 for making the lovely banner for Homecoming, you can check out her site at** mehek18(dot)tumblr(dot)com/

**Edward's POV**

The house is quiet now, though I still can't sleep. For two hours I've been laying here, just staring at my ceiling, wondering who had broken into the Swan's house. Who had been _stupid_ enough to mess with the Chief of Police? Who did I have to end for scaring my girlfriend?

"Ugh!" I groan and get up. I toss my t-shirt from last night on and head downstairs. Maybe a round of boxing on Wii will let out some of this bent up frustration.

Slowly, I go down the stairs, trying not to make a lot of noise and wake anyone else up. I see a light turned on in the kitchen and I make a detour to see who else is suffering from insomnia tonight. I hear a soft humming, it's gentle and soothing. Walking into the kitchen I see Bella sitting on a stool at the kitchen island holding Noel, rocking her and gently humming, a half drunk glass of milk sitting in front of her.

"Hi." I say softly. She jumps a little and turns. When she sees me, a beautiful smile crosses her face and then a small 'v' appears between her brows, she nervously bites her bottom lip.

"Hi. Umm… I hope it was ok that…" She trails off pointing at the milk.

"It's fine, Bella, mi casa, su casa." I assure her. "Make yourself at home." Just to make her feel better, I go and pour myself a glass of milk as well. "So you couldn't sleep either?"

"No, every time I would fall asleep, I'd wake up having a nightmare so I gave up." She says softly, cuddling Noel to her.

"Ouch, at least I just stayed awake, nightmares suck." I sympathize with her.

"Yes." She smiles at me again, the 'v' gone and all thoughts of playing Wii go out of my head.

"Hey, how about you and Noel come up to my room, I'll pop some popcorn and we can watch a movie or something on TV?"

"Ok, but umm… don't make any popcorn for me, please." She replies.

"Then no popcorn." I laugh. "I was only making it in case you wanted a snack, I kinda over did it on the junk last night." She nods in agreement. "I'm gonna grab a bottle of apple juice, want one?" She nods. "Plain apple or cran-apple?"

"Plain."

"Plain it is." I smile back at her, and after grabbing the drinks, we head up the stairs.

After we get upstairs, we quickly get situated. _Blue Streak_ was running again on TBS, so we left it there. Martin Lawrence is almost always funny and I love to hear Bella giggle, so it was a win-win for me. We curled into my bed, her body wrapped up beside me under my dark blue down comforter. Noel was burrowed under the covers at the bottom of the bed, we could hear her little snores every so often. Bella would get the sweetest smile when she heard them and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

By the end of the movie, we were kissing softly. My hands wrapped in her long brown locks, hers; one was positioned on my shoulder and the other on the side of my face. We were pressed close; and I felt relaxed for the first time since we heard about the break in.

My tongue asked for entrance into her mouth; and she willingly gave me that. So different from that time she bit me. I have to hold back a smile when I remember how she told me that she had googled kissing to make sure she was doing it right. My sweet Bella.

As we kiss some more, I can't help but think about how I want so badly to cup breast, to feel if it is as soft as it looks. I want to run my hands down and cup her ass, squeezing it and pressing her into me. I want to bury myself in her body, be one with her. I want to see her face as she cums. I know it is way too soon for all of that, so I keep my body in check as best as I can. Though, unfortunately, lil' Edward doesn't listen, so I angle him so he doesn't grind into Bella. I'd hate to scare her, or make her feel uncomfortable. I stop kissing her for a moment, close my eyes and press my forehead against hers. She takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Edward." Softly I hear her whisper and I look to see her eyes closed, her breathing evened out and my sweet Bella was asleep. I close my eyes just as her head slips off my shoulder and lands on my chest. She gives a soft sigh of contentment and the world fades away.

~0~

"Wakey, wakey." I look up to see Jasper and Emmett standing over my bed. Bella is waking up as well.

"Edward, do we need to have a little talk about the rules?" Em asks, one eye brow raised. Jasper can't hold back anymore he starts laughing like a hyena.

"Dude, you should see your face." I notice Bella move. She is glaring at Em and Jazz.

"Out." She says in a quiet but firm voice. I never thought I would see her this assertive. She's leaning over me like a Momma bear protecting her cub.

"But, Bells…" Em whines.

"Be nice then." She says simply. Jasper takes one look at the glare and stops his laughing.

"Alright, fine, baby sis. Listen, Esme has breakfast going and won't let us eat till the two of you make it downstairs, so get to steppin' I need some food."

"We'll be down in a minute." I tell him. He gives me a look that says we need to talk and grabs Noel who was sitting at the end of the bed trying to get his attention before leaving the room.

"Thank you." The sweetest voice in my world says softly.

"What for, Bella?" I ask confused.

"You chased the nightmares away." She gives my lips a peck and then gets up.

"Then thank you, because you helped the sleep come." I reply.

"Hurry up before Emmett eats Noel!" Alice yells up the stairs. Bella's eyes go wide and she takes off running to save her baby.

I hold back a chuckle and go to the bathroom to do my morning routine. It's funny how soundly I slept with my Bella in my arms. One would think I would have been more agitated because the girl I adore, the girl I want more than any other, was in my arms - in my bed. But no, I felt comfortable and relaxed. I slept with sweet dreams of brown hair blowing in the wind.

**Charlie's POV**

Two weeks, two _frustrating_ _damn_ weeks have passed since Halloween and we've yet to have one clue on who broke into the house. Neighbors could only tell us that they had seen one person dressed in all black going up on the porch, at the time they thought it was a trick or treater and ignored them. Now, everyone was on the lookout.

More "gifts" have arrived. The most disturbing was a set of green ladies underwear ripped up and left in a wrapped box on the front porch. I didn't know if this was a case of love gone wrong, or someone threatening my daughter. To be on the safe side, I brought Victoria into the station.

After interviewing the girl, I had proof that she hadn't been the culprit behind the break in. In fact, she had been at some Rocky Horror big to do in Seattle with her parents and their best friends. Plenty of people had seen her and the hours that she was unaccounted for at the theater, she had been in the car going back and forth to the city. I still couldn't prove, one way or another, if she was sending the gifts, though she swore she wasn't and told me to tell Emmett his ego was too big if he thought she'd stalk his ass after he dumped her.

I next interviewed Victoria's close friend Laurent, in case he was doing her dirty work for her. Laurent had been at a party in Port Angeles with his new boyfriend, he too had others who could and did vouch for the fact he was there all night. Laurent did point me to Lauren Mallory. According to him, she has a vendetta against Bella because of some delusion that Bella stole Edward from her.

Getting Lauren in for questioning has been no easy feat. She refused to come in and her parents also refused to bring her in, they gave me their lawyer's card and told me to deal with him. And after numerous talks with the Mallory family lawyer and a finally a subpoena to come in to the station for questioning, I, finally, have Ms. Mallory to interview this afternoon.

"Chief, Lauren Mallory and Caius Dimato are in the interrogation room." Mark informs me with a laugh and grimace. "You might want to wear riot gear Chief." He warns before going back to his desk.

I straighten my shoulders and walk to the one interrogation room that this small station has. Not enough crime in Forks to warrant having more than one. It's not dark and drab like those on CSI and Law and Order. In fact, this room doubles as the break room, so there is a coffee maker and fridge as well as a soft lemon color on the wall. Esme donated her time and supplies to make this a comfortable break/interrogation room.

"Mr. Dimato, Ms. Mallory." I greet coming into the room. "Can I get either of you a bottle of water or a cup of coffee?" I offer politely, knowing if I go into this hostile I will get nada out of it.

"No, thanks, Charlie." Caius informs me. I know he's using my first name to try and belittle my power and position in this room. Sorry, _man_, but not gonna work.

"No." Lauren looks around the room like she might catch something just being in here. "Can we just get this done and over with? I have things to do." She looks down at her perfectly manicured fingers ignoring me.

"Fine then, I would hate to detain you from your overwhelming social calendar." I say sarcastically, "Lauren where were you on Halloween evening between the hours of seven pm and ten pm?" The suspect was spotted at the house around eight, however, we gave a broader time frame incase that was not the actual culprit.

"Well, unlike your lame ass kids, I was at a real party." She looks down her nose at me and rolls her eyes once again.

"Which party and at who's house?"

"Tyler Crowley's party at his house." I swear I can hear a 'duh' tacked onto that.

"And can anyone vouch for you being there the whole time?"

"Tyler, Mike, Jessica and Kate." She says naming off a group of her friends.

"Lauren you are aware that if I bring your friends in here and explain to them that covering for you makes them an accessory to the crime, they will more than likely turn on you. I suggest you make real sure that you are telling the truth, it will go easier on you in the long run."

"I didn't do anything to your lame-ass house." She spats at me, "I couldn't be bothered to go there. I might catch poor people disease or something." I have to hold back the fact that there is no such thing as 'poor people disease' and that I am not in fact poor.

"I'll check out your alibi, Lauren, if it falls through you will be sitting in a cell by tonight." I stand up. "You're free to go for now."

~0~

Five hours and four interrogations later, I now know it wasn't Lauren Mallory. While Kate and Tyler could not vouch for Lauren's whereabouts on the night in question, Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton could. In fact, they had video proof of where they were. Proof they were extremely embarrassed to pass over. The little trio had made a sex tape while wearing costumes that looked like stuffed animals. Mark told me that this was some kind of odd alternative lifestyle called Furries or something like that.

Lauren had seemed like such a good lead and now I'm back almost to square one. All I've done is knocking off a couple of suspects. Out of desperation, I call up to the women's prison and have them fax over Renee's call list. Maybe I can find a new lead there. I have to find out who this is, so I can protect my family from them.

**Edward's POV**

The month of November flew by. Bella's first Thanksgiving with us all seemed to be a huge hit with her. She helped Mom do all the cooking and even watched football with all of the guys without complaint, while Mom and Alice worked on their Black Friday shopping list. Something that Bella didn't take part in. Both Bella and her therapist agreed that the amount of people and the highly competitive nature of that morning's shopping might be too much for Bella. So, I introduced her to cyber Monday, the time that I did most of my Christmas shopping. Bella loved it. I still can't believe it's already December first. The month has snuck up on us all. Even though you know it's coming, it still seems to be here too quickly.

And while regular life has gone on and time passes as usual, poor Charlie is still trying to find out who was behind the Halloween break-in and has yet to find a new lead. Emmett, Jasper and I have taken it upon ourselves to do some hunting around school. We were almost positive that the person was a student at Forks High. We just needed to find out which one.

"Edward, does this look ok?" Bella calls my attention to where she is hanging garland on the railing.

"Perfect, baby." I assure her. We're decorating the inside of the Swan house for Christmas, while, Jasper and Emmett are trying to get the large artificial tree together in the living room.

"Hot chocolate is done!" Alice yells from the kitchen.

We all go into the kitchen for Alice's culinary masterpiece of Swiss Miss packets with boiled water added to the mix. While it's not gourmet hot coco, I'm just proud of Alice for not burning it. My sister is great at a lot of things, but she has yet to master cooking.

"Dude, I love teacher conference days." Em says loudly, breaking the silence in the room.

"Me, too." Jasper agrees.

"A half day of school and then a long-ass weekend, score, total win." Em keeps going with his happiness in his face. He has been more like himself lately. Which might have something to do with his growing "friendship" with Rosalie.

The week before Thanksgiving, Rose brought Em to her therapist office for her appointment. There the pair had talked openly, getting a lot of their feelings out in the open. Emmett had closed up for about two days after that, just needing to heal, I guess. But on the third day he began reverting back into the big-happy-teddy-bear we all know and love.

"Knock, knock." Speaking of Rose. She comes in carrying a box. "This was on the front porch."

"Hey, Rose." Em greets and there is a round of hellos. "Who's name is on the box?" Em looks like an eager little boy in case the delivery is for him.

"Bella's." She tells him with a smirk. She hands the box to Bella who thanks her softly. My poor sweet Bella, she is trying so hard to get over her nervousness around Rose.

"Who's it from?" Em asks her excitedly. At this point, I think he has gone from hoping the box has his name on it, to hoping something in the box is for him.

"Umm… it doesn't say." Bella tells him. She looks at me, her eyes huge. "I think we need to call Da… Charlie."

Emmett jumps up and takes the box out of her hands placing it on the counter like it might explode. I grab my cell out and call Charlie letting him know that another package has been delivered. Charlie lets me know that he will be here in less than ten minutes. I hang up the phone and pull a shaking Bella into my arms.

"Charlie said not to open the box till he gets here." I tell them.

"Who the hell is doing this shit?" Em exclaims. Rose is gently rubbing his shoulder with one hand trying to calm him. The love and tenderness in her touch even moves me, I know that sooner or later these two will get back together.

"I wish I knew." I reply, pulling my little love tighter to my chest.

I look up to check on Alice and hide a grimace/smile at the sight that meets my eyes. She's curled up on Jasper's lap, her head in his neck as he leans down and coos softly to her. I know Alice is upset and worried about what is housed in the box. Poor Alice was the one that opened a box on the day it housed a dead mutilated rabbit.

"Where is it?" Charlie asks running into the room. I know he had to speed to get here this quickly.

"Over here, Dad." Emmett points to the box on the counter. Charlie nods and walks over to it.

We all stand and watch as Charlie hesitates to open the box. It's odd to see a box, that small, intimidate Charlie. A man who has been a cop almost all of his adult life. A man who is wearing a gun and has taken down killers, rapists and murderers. The box sent by the unknown tormentor of the girl I adore, the one I want to tell her that 'I love her', but I'm not sure if she is ready, or how she will take it.

"I should probably open this down at the station." He mutters.

"Dad, we've opened all of them here before, just do it." Em encourages him.

"I agree, Charlie, maybe it will have a clue, or give a hint as to who this psycho is." Jasper says agreeing with Emmett.

"Yeah," Charlie says, pulling his pocket knife out and slipping on gloves.

"Chief, where are you?"

"In here, Mark." Deputy Mark comes into the kitchen taking in the scene.

"Have you opened it yet?" He queries.

"No." Charlie tells him, gesturing to the box. Mark slips on gloves as well, coming over to help. "Mark, take photos for evidence." Mark nods and pulls his a camera out of his cop bag, aka 'fanny pack'.

As Deputy Mark takes pictures Charlie opens the box. Inside there is a smaller box, in a powder blue. Alice informs us that it's Tiffany's blue. Charlie makes us all stand back as he lifts the smaller box out to open it. Inside laying, on top of a picture of a bleeding heart, is a pair of silver handcuffs.

"Dude," Slips out of Jasper's lips and we all turn to him, "I think I know who is behind this."

"Who, son?" Charlie asks Jasper, the term of endearment slipping from his lips. Jasper looks me in the eyes.

"Tanya."

"Fuck!" Slips out of Emmett's mouth and I feel like I've been run over by a bulldozer.

Yes, Tanya is obsessive and stalkerish, but is she insane? Would she target Bella, the daughter of the Chief of Police just to try and scare her away from me? Would she mutilate an animal? Would she leave dead birds and ripped up lingerie on the front porch?

"The green lingerie was about the same shade of green as your eyes, Edward." Alice says slowly.

"And when you were a kid you had that pet rabbit Peanut Butter." Emmett adds looking at me, his eyes calculating.

"And she cuffed you and you know…" Jasper trails off.

"Swans are birds; so the dead birds could represent…" Rose trails off now.

"Tanya?" Bella's soft voice calls my attention, "the girl from the fair?" I nod.

"She… umm… she stares at me and it… well …it's not friendly." Bella's timid voice reminds me so much of when she first got to us. If this is Tanya, I want to rip her throat out for doing this to my girl.

"Mark, go get Tanya Huggins and bring her to the station for questioning her about the break in and for the harassment of my family." Charlie demands, "and take this into evidence." He motions to the box. Mark nods bagging the box, before heading out the door. "Tell me what I need to know about Tanya Huggins." I sigh then tell my girlfriend's father about the most embarrassing moments of my life.

**Charlie's POV**

After Mark informs me that Tanya is now here, I ask him how the ride went. Fortunately, for Ms. Huggins she didn't fight coming down to the station. She simply let Mark cuff her, then slipped into the police cruiser. Unfortunately, for Ms. Huggins, if she _is_ in fact guilty, she is eighteen and will be tried as an adult.

I'm so glad that I didn't have to struggle, bargain and finally subpoena to get Tanya Huggins down to the station like I had to with Lauren Mallory. While I might have to release her if this interview doesn't pan out the way I hope it will, I will at least have instant satisfaction this time. I still can't believe all the crap the Mallory family put me through, just because their daughter didn't want her freaky sex life out in the open. After Edward's tale of having his one time girlfriend turn into a kinky-sexual-super-freak, with cuffs, leather under things and a whip; I'm starting to wonder what they are teaching in sex ed at Forks High.

I walk over and look through the two-way glass-mirror into the interrogation room. Tanya is smiling. It's an odd smile, almost sexual in nature. I look and notice she is rubbing her wrist where the cuffs had been, not like it hurt, but more reverently… like it gave her extreme _pleasure_. I shudder, then walk into the room to turn the recorder on.

"Tanya, did the deputy inform you of your rights? Including the right to have an attorney present?" I don't want this to fall through because one of my boys didn't Miranda her.

"Why, yes, Charlie. But don't you think this will be more fun, just you and me?" She lifts a strawberry blond brow and lightly licks her lower lip.

"Fine then." I pause, "Tanya, did you break into my house on Halloween?"

"Yep." She says popping the p._ Ok, that was almost too easy._

"And have you been sending packages to my house?"

"Right again, Charlie." She giggles, it's eerie.

"Alright then, I'll have the confession typed up so you can sign it." Shoot, I feel like super cop, my mad interrogation skills clearly beating this teeny bopper.

"Tut, tut, Charlie, don't you want to know why?" She complains with a pout.

"I assume that it's because Edward is dating my daughter; and wants nothing to do with you." I don't feel like playing this little psychos game.

"You know what they say about people who assume, Charlie?" She giggles again, "ask me, Charlie boy. Ask me _why_ I did it." She demands, her voice growing hard.

"Why did you do it?" I ask in a bored tone, trying not to encourage her.

"Your little _slut_ of a daughter stole Edward from me, that is true. It sealed her fate, Charlie." Ice is dripping from her words. "What set this in motion though, Charlie boy, is all _you,_ though. Tell me, Chief, how is it going to sound when I go to trial and I tell the good citizens of Forks about how their beloved Police Chief fucked my big sister, when she was just sixteen years old and left her pregnant? How you didn't do right by her? How she had to go out into this cold lonely world and fend for herself and her baby? I might go to jail, Charlie, but you will finally pay for your crimes as well."

I sit looking at her stunned there is no way… I never knew.

"Renee is your _sister_?" I ask shocked.

"Ding, ding, ding. Score one for the pedophile!" She laughs maniacally. "and Renee said you'd take forever to catch on." She taunts.

I stand up and push my way out of the room. I feel light-headed and the world seems to be tilting on its axis. Things that I thought were dead and buried. Things, that I paid dearly for, already were coming back to haunt me. And before the world goes black, I vaguely remember whispering, "I didn't know."

* * *

**AN2: So umm... nervous reviews really would help... *goes into hiding* **


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Much thanks and lots of love goes out to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :0) This story wouldn't be readable without her mad skills. Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;0)* !**

**I'm sorry I didn't get around to review replies for this past chapter, real life got in the way I'll try harder this time around. I just want to say thank you to everyone who left a review, they mean a whole hell of a lot to me, and I read each and every one of them. **

**AN: Please not that some embellishment and playing with Washington State Laws have been taken, that is where the word FICTION comes into play. There is an important AN at the end, I don't want to do it here and hold up the chapter, I know a lot of you have been waiting for this one.  
**

**Charlie's POV **

I woke up looking into Carlisle's concerned face. He motioned for me to stay still, and though I was disoriented, I did as he bid me. He took my blood pressure and other vitals before helping me to sit up.

"How are you feeling, Charlie?" He asks gently.

"Fuzzy," I tell him honestly, "what the hell happened?"

"Your blood pressure spiked, most likely due to stress… that along with the fact I believe you were having a mild panic attack caused your body to pass out. It is a natural flight or fight response to be honest." He assures me, "I do want to keep a watch on your blood pressure though, just in case it might be something we need to treat and not a onetime occurrence."

"Sure, doc," I brush off his concerns, more worried about the drama that just went down in the interrogation room. "How the hell did we not see her name on Renee's call list, or know that she is Renee's sister?" I say more to myself than anyone else.

"I wish I knew, Charlie." Carlisle looks at me, "are we sure she is telling the truth?"

"Right, I'll get a court-ordered DNA test, that way we can rule out her lying."

"Charlie, you should know Emmett heard some of Tanya's statement through the two way mirror, he came in to ask Deputy Mark a question while you were in there. I'm not sure how much he heard, just that when he came out of the room, he grabbed Bella and went home."

"Shit," I mutter, letting out a word I rarely use, "I'm going to check with Mark, then head home, I think the kids need to know what is going on."

"I think you need to fill in the blanks about the past, Charlie, it may be about to hit the fan and they should be prepared." Carlisle warns.

"I know, Carlisle, I just hope they don't hate me after I tell them what happened."

"Hey, Charlie?" Mark calls out from the front room.

"Yeah?"

"Tanya's parents are here and they want to talk to you." _Well, hell this ought to be interesting._

**Emmett's POV**

Sometimes in life weird shit just seems to happen. And, I guess the old adage that 'when it rains it pours' fits around here lately. First, it was the whole Renee/Phil craziness. Then finding out about Rose losing the baby… and then, Tanya with her own brand of craziness! The other old saying that I am feeling here lately is, 'Shit happens and then you die'. I'm really starting to believe that one.

After hearing that Tanya had been brought in for questioning, I loaded Bella in the jeep and drove to the station. I wanted to ask Dad if Bella and I could listen in to the interrogation, seeing as this affected both of us. I know it's not standard procedure, but hell, Charlie is the Chief; surely that should come with some perks, right? Dad wasn't out front when we got there, so I went looking for him. Deputy Mark was in the waiting room, where they watch the interrogations. It's basically a freaking coat closet with chairs and a view of the interrogation/break room. I was getting ready to ask Mark if he'd get Dad so I could find out if it would be ok for Bells and I to watch, when suddenly the rug was pulled out from under my fucking feet.

Kinky, scary Tanya is my kid sister's aunt? What the fuck? I vaguely registered that she mentioned something about Renee being underage, but I could care less at this point. Poor Bella, a loony toon's of a Mom and a crazy-ass aunt. What if 'nuttiness' runs in that side of Bella's family? God, I hope it skipped her. I mean, I'd still love her even if she did go wacko, but I'd prefer she didn't.

I had an overwhelming urge to protect Bella and get her the hell out of the station. I don't know if it was because I wanted to get her out of there before Tanya came out of that room. Or due to the fact that I was worried what the news that the girl who took your boyfriend's V card is also your aunt, who by the way was sending you weird gifts and making harassing phone calls to you, would do to her. So, I load Bella back into the jeep and go home.

My sweet kid sister doesn't argue, or complain about being brought to the station only to come right back home. Instead, she goes into the kitchen and gets dinner going. It takes her about ten minutes to put it together then pop it in the oven, she informs me that it is a broccoli/chicken casserole. Broccoli might not smell good, but I'm going to bet that shit is tasty with Bella cooking it. After that she starts vacuuming the living room, like nothing weird has happened today. I figure this is one of those copping techniques that people who've been abused have. I did some reading up on the net after Renee's trial. I wanted to be prepared if Bella needs me.

"Kids?" I hear Dad call as he comes through the front door. Bella shuts off the vacuum and gives him a small smile.

"Hi," Bella greets softly.

"Hey, Dad," I greet as well, trying to act normal. I wonder if he is going to tell her._ Shit, I hope I get to tell Edward. _I give myself a little mental kick in the mental behind for that thought. While it would have been fun to torture him with that fact, this isn't a funny situation.

"Kids we need to talk." He motions towards the couch and sits in his Lazy Boy.

Bella and I sit side by side, turned so we can look at Dad. He takes a deep breath then puts his fist to his forehead pressing down slightly. His left knee bounces and when he realizes it he presses his free hand down on his knee. After a moment of this mini nervous breakdown, at least that is what it seems like to me, I hear Bella's sweet voice.

"I'm sorry." Why she is apologizing, I don't know.

"What? Why, Bella?" Dad asks, looking perplexed.

"I'm… well, if I wasn't here then you wouldn't have to deal with this, right? I've caused so much trouble and I'll understand if you are sending me away." Little tears are forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Bella, I'm not sending you away, baby girl. You haven't caused me any trouble and even if you did, I'd still love you and want you here with me." He assures her.

"Ok," she says, though I can still see the fear in her eyes. While she has made strides in therapy, sometimes the scared little girl, who I first met, still comes out.

"Ok," he replies with a small smile before continuing, "I don't know where to start honestly. I need to fill the both of you in on things from the past. Em, you were too young to remember any of this. But this part of the past is _really_ impacting our present, so I have to tell you about it." He sounds more like he's trying to convince himself. "Even though I never wanted to," I hear him mutter under his breath.

"Dad, does this have to do with Tanya and her 'confession'?" I ask curiously. I didn't want to blurt out the fact that Tanya is claiming to be Bella's aunt.

"It has everything to do with it, son." He looks between the two of us. "The best place to start is at the beginning; and I want you both to remember that no matter what I say, I love you both dearly. And I'm blessed to have you both in my life." He tells us seriously.

"Ok," Bella tells him just as I let out, "We know, Dad," to try and make him feel better.

"Emmett, after your Mom died I was lost. _Hope_ was the love of my life. I tried to do my best, I knew you needed me. But every day was a struggle to get out of bed and go on. Your Mother was my Hope, both literally and figuratively. I was twenty four years old and felt like my life was already over.

About ten months after she passed away, my mom got sick and needed to go into the hospital. She was the one that had been watching you while I worked. So, now I had to worry about who was going to watch my son and taking care of my mom. Carlisle and Esme were still in Seattle then, he was finishing up his residency or else Esme would have been more than happy to watch you. There was no one." He pauses.

"What about the Whitlocks or Hales?" Bella asks softly. I forgot she didn't know the whole story there.

"The Whitlocks were finishing up Jack's last two years in the Air-force, they were based in New York. And Nick was in his last year of law school at Harvard. Everyone hadn't moved back to Forks yet." I explain.

"Oh," she lets out softly.

"With no friends really around here that could accommodate my schedule, I started looking for babysitters and daycare. We had a new family move in two days before Hope died that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to because of my situation. Jean Higginbottom and who I was introduced to as her sister Renee Higginbottom. Jean was a nurse at the hospital and she said Renee was finishing up a year off of school and was soon going to be starting up soon at the community college to get her associates in Early Childhood Education. She had dreams of running a daycare. Of course, to me this sounded like a dream." He lets out a huff and scowls.

"Higginbottom?" I scoff under my breath and Charlie gives me a 'shut-the-fuck-up' look before continuing.

"I noticed Jean had a lot of gentleman callers coming and going and Renee would sit outside or go for long walks to get away from the house. On an unseasonably warm day in late April, I was sitting on our porch rocking you on the swing, Em. You were teething and kept crying and the swinging seemed to sooth you some. Renee was doing her usual get out of the house because Jean had company. She saw us out there and came over to see you. We started talking and she was complaining about the price of books for her courses in the Fall. She told me she might even take one more semester or year off to try and get a job to save up some extra money to pay for school. I thought, what the hell. I told her if she wanted to do that, I needed someone to watch you while I worked and do just light housework. I couldn't pay a whole lot back then, I wasn't the Chief of Police, just a regular old Deputy at the time and had yet to inherit the little I did from my parent, however, Renee jumped all over it.

"She would come over an hour before my shift, so I had time to run to the hospital to check on Mom and always had dinner ready on the table, though that wasn't part of her 'duties'. She informed me that she enjoyed cooking, so I started giving her grocery money to make sure we had the right stuff in the house. After a while, I started asking her to stay for dinner, we would talk and I would go on about how much I missed Hope and how worried I was that I was going to somehow mess up being a Dad. She would reassure me that I was doing a great job and then tell me how Hope was watching over us. All the things that I needed to hear." He flops back and hit his head on the back of the chair.

"I didn't know Renee could cook." Bella interjects. "Before I was able to cook for us both, she used to give me cold cereal, oatmeal and pop tarts." I'm a little surprised that Bella is sharing this, but she looks adorably confused.

"She's a crazy bitch, Bella, that's why she never cooked for you." I tell her softly and Dad nods in agreement.

"She is, Bella, trust me she is a nut case. But back to the story, before I chicken out and can't get finish it." Dad takes another deep breath then goes on, "by October, Renee was here the majority of the time. Instead of taking her walks to get away from Jean's sexcapades, she would come hang out with us. Mom had to be put in the nursing home in Port Angeles. After her stroke, the doctors felt it would be better for her. So, we would go up on Sundays and visit Mom, sometimes Renee would go for the ride. Mom didn't like her though and so Renee stopped coming with us. I assumed it was the stroke talking, because at that point, Renee had been a God-sent to us. Mom just kept warning that she was evil. But she also told me that the staff at the nursing home was actually a satanic cult, so I didn't but a lot of stock in what she was telling me.

"Right before Christmas, Jean ran off somewhere leaving Renee alone and then Mom had another stroke and didn't make it. Renee held my hand through all of it, telling me that at least my parents were back together again and that it will take time but life would go on. She made a cryptic comment about 'at least I no longer had to pay for the nursing home', but then went on to tell me how my Mom wouldn't want me to be sad. I wasn't really in the best state, Mom's death hit me hard and I was still morning for Hope too. I did the one thing I always tell you not to do; I got wasted, drunk-off my ass. The next morning I woke up in bed with Renee and I couldn't remember anything. We were both naked and she told me that I had been a wonderful gentle lover and she was so glad that I was her first." He chokes on his words.

"It's alright, Dad." I assure him, I can tell he's embarrassed to go on.

"Thanks, Em." He gives me a nod before standing up to start pacing, "I was too hung over to completely freak out. In Renee's head, we were now a couple. She started dropping hints about moving in; and how if we lived together, I wouldn't have to pay for babysitting anymore. Hell, I wasn't ready for that and honestly… even though I liked Renee as a friend, I didn't feel _that_ way about her. I was still very much in love with my wife. I didn't want to hurt her though, because I thought of her as a friend, so I just told her we needed time and I apologized for taking advantage of her. She acted as if it was ok, but would still drop hints and even started giving me little moments of affection. A kiss on the cheek here, a hug there or a nice shoulder rub after a long day at work.

"I was so damn lonely and so lost. My wife and my mother were gone. I was closer to the both of them than anyone else in the world. My father had passed on two years before. Renee was offering companionship and I was fool enough to take it. As any twenty, a foolish twenty something year old guy, I stupidly had sex with her again and once more before the guilt about killed me. I told her we could only be friends. That I didn't feel for her the way a man should feel for his lover. She called me an asshole and a user before storming out.

"Stupid 'me' thought that maybe if I put some space between us, she would calm down. So, I took my two-week vacation and went up to Seattle to stay with the Cullens. Edward was just a baby at the time, but Emmett loved to watch him. You probably don't remember this, Em, but you would try and load Edward's crib up with toys before bed, so he wouldn't be lonely. It was so sweet." Dad gets this smile on his face and I can tell he is remembering baby me. I was a damn cute kid.

"Sorry, Dad, I can't remember much from when I was like one and half years old." I give him a knowing look.

"Yeah, I guess not." He shrugs before sighing, "when we got back to Forks, Renee had gone completely nuts. If I had a rabbit, I think she would have boiled it. That is how far gone she was. She stormed into the house and kept telling me how I was going to jail, how I was a pedophile and a dirty old man. It all came spewing out. Some of the story she had told me was true, but very different from what I was lead to believe. Renee had dropped out of school and got her GED and was going to go to community college, I was lead to believe Renee had graduated from high school and was taking a year off before college. I thought she was around nineteen, twenty years old. However I was so very wrong. Jean wasn't her sister, but her Mother. Jean was fifteen when she had Renee; and Renee was only sixteen, almost seventeen then.

"She told me that I screwed everything up. That I was supposed to marry her and we'd be a family. That I was going to pay for leading her on and treating her like shit. That she was going to press statutory rape charges against me. This went on for weeks. She would show up and tell me she was giving me a chance to come to my senses, or she would make me pay. I was still in the 'depressed, I don't care' stage of grief, not really thinking about anything else other than getting through the day. I think, that's why I let her get away with it for so long.

"About a month and a half later, around the beginning of March, I was ready to tell her just to press charges, anything to get her to leave me alone… that's when Renee came over and handed me a box and inside was three positive pregnancy tests. She informed me that I was going to be a Dad. Then told me that I would never see the kid. And if I try to, she would have me arrested and I'd lose custody of Emmett."

"What?" I explode. "Isn't sixteen the age of consent in Washington?"

"Up until 1995, we were like the majority of the states in the US with females being at the age of consent at eighteen, in fact a lot of states still have that law. I contacted Nick who flew out here as quickly as possible to help me. Once I knew a baby was involved and the fact that Emmett was in jeopardy, I had to act. After looking into state laws here, he did find that I might in fact face jail time if a judge didn't believe my side of the story. If the judge believed Renee and her story of the dirty old man taking advantage of his young babysitter, the babysitter who was scared to talk because of the guy being a cop. So, it wasn't looking good for me.

Nick tried to help. He went and talked to Renee, who agreed to a paternity test once you were born, Bella. She also agreed that for twenty thousand dollars, she would give me the baby, if it was mine biologically and sign away rights. She also agreed to go away and leave us all alone for the money. Nick called Carlisle who gave him the money, at the time I didn't know this. They were trying to get rid of her for me and knew I'd never take their money. In September after you were born, I wasn't allowed to see you but the test was done confirming you were my child. Renee was handed the briefcase of cash and Nick paid for her lawyer's fees so she could get the paperwork done to sign over her rights. What Carlisle and Nick didn't take into account, because they didn't know her the way I do, was Renee is a liar.

"She took the money and took you, Bella. For years she would call me, taunting me that I would never see you. Then she would say I could have you only to change her mind once again. I tried to get joint custody once, but the day before the hearing was to begin, Jean showed up with a file of proof that I had "raped" Renee. Clothes with my semen on it, Bella's paternity, Renee's age when Bella was conceived; and to top it all off, pictures of a very beat up looking Renee, in the file. I was to drop the case or they would press charges."

"What the hell?" I exclaim again, "this sounds like some bad soap opera!"

"No shit, son. After a while, I became Chief of Police, you were doing so well here in Forks and I realized that at this point I probably wouldn't go to jail or even trial. I would, however, be tried in the eyes of the town. I would have lost my job, the respect I had built up with people over these years and worse than that, Em, you would have lost friends and probably been tormented at school.

"I was trying to protect the only child I was capable of protecting at that time. I had no idea where Bella was, I didn't even know her name until the day Renee called to tell me that she was signing her over to me. I mourned for my little girl, I wanted her in our lives so much, but there I was, torn between getting my baby girl and ruining our lives, my son's life of losing both of you. The other side was not knowing my daughter, whom I kept hoping was being treated well. In my mind, I remembered how great Renee was with you, Em, and I kept hoping she was like that with Bella. That somehow the cold crazy bitch was maternal with her own flesh and blood. Had I known it was any different than that, I wouldn't have given a fuck about our reputations in this town; I would have kidnapped Bella and the three of us would have lived on the run."

"Dad…" I trail off not sure what to say. I look over at Bella who is quietly sitting there, paler than usual. She has been listening to all of this and I wish I knew what she was thinking.

"I love you both, equally and unconditionally. Bella, I loved you since the moment you were born, before I knew you were mine. I'm sorry I didn't try harder to get you. I did what I thought I could. I bargained, pleaded and gave Renee enough money of the years trying to get you back. I hope you don't hate me."

"I don't hate you." She whispers.

"Thank you, baby girl." He looks at me, "I hope you don't hate me either, son."

"No, Dad, it was a messed up situation and you tried your best. It's not like there was an instruction book that told you how to get your kid back from the crazy harpie psycho." I assure him.

"Umm…" Bella starts then pauses biting her lip.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Dad asks.

"What does all this have to do with," she lowers her voice even more as she says, "Tanya?"

"Right now, we are trying to verify the story, but from the records we've pulled and talking to Tanya's Dad, we've pieced together what we think is the truth. Jean and Renee moved to Forks because Jean had recently had a baby with a guy from here, only back then they never talked about the child. In fact, the man she had the baby with, was married and he and his wife took the girl to raise as their own. Tanya and Renee share a mother. We are waiting for DNA test to confirm it though, Lucy and Ryan Huggins did say that Jean is Tanya's biological mother.

"Now, it seems that Jean wasn't supposed to get in touch with Tanya, as per their agreement when the Huggins paid her off. However, Jean got in touch with Tanya two years ago; and Tanya has a prepaid cell phone that her parents didn't know about that she used to talk to Jean and Renee. Jean had been talking to Renee in jail and was the go between of Renee and Tanya. Jean has the alibi of living in Jacksonville, Florida, so we never looked into her any further. If we had, we might have found the connection before now."

"So, Tanya is Bella's Aunt?" I ask in shock.

"All signs point to 'yes', I'm sorry to say." Dad looks at Bella, "are you ok, sweetheart?"

"I… I… can umm… I go to my room and lay down, this is just… I need…" She rambles and Dad nods.

"Go ahead, if you need us, we are here." He assures her. Bella gets up and goes upstairs without another word.

"I hope she is ok." I say the first thing that comes to my head.

"Me too, son. I hope you are _both_ ok. This story might come out now and I don't know what is going to happen. This is a small town and any hint of scandal can set them off."

"Hey, old man, screw them if they believe you could do something like that. You were misled during a crappy time in your life." I stand up and walk over patting him on the back. "Now I'm going to go pull the food out of the oven, because that smell is leading me to believe it's burning. I guess no chicken broccoli casserole tonight." I pout. Yeah, I'm trying to ease his mind and make him think things are going to be normal by doing my usual focus on food.

"Pizza ok with you?" I nod and he flips his phone open to call while I go clean up the burnt dinner. If only Renee and her crazy family was as easy to discard as tossing in the trash can and sending to the dump.

**Reviews are my my crack, please to be my dealer *bad joke I know***

**AN: Ok first, if you kill me the next chapter will never come out. Second Bella's pov is coming, I've always planned for Em to be the pov we hear Charlie's story through. Because Emmett was there, and because he knows Charlie better than anyone he is able to notice more about the way this is effecting his father. Chapter 28 is important for Bella and Edward will be making a return.**

**Please have faith and remember that I am a Bella/Edward HEA girl. I'm not going to draw out a bunch of angst and drama just to try and get reviews, in fact according to my outline this story has around 10 chapters left. That completely depresses me because I love these characters so much. It also makes me happy because I have a lemon and an I love you scene that I have already written that is scheduled in just a couple of chapters that I can't wait to share with all of you.  
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**Now to the important part, my Net is going to be spotty till the 20th of this month, I'm changing companies and my dumb ass had my current one shut off because the company pissed me off. I'm (by permission) using my neighbors wireless signal, but it's not that strong. Meaning that I won't be around Twitter and Facebook as much and while I'll continue to update, I might not be able to again until the 20th depending on my net connection.  
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	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to TwiDi for beta'ing this. Love ya big time bb! **

**AN: Sorry it has been so long RL is pretty sucky right now, I'm not going to get into it here, but the explanation is on my profile page for those who want to know. **

**For those who need a reminder (and are still reading this): Bella found out about Charlie and Renee's past together and that Tanya is Renee's younger half sister. Bella has also been in therapy and is working towards healing. **

**Without further ado...  
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**Bella's POV**

I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, Noel cuddling beside me. I don't really know what to focus on. Tanya being my aunt is the least of my worries right now. Renee used me to hurt Charlie; and that makes me so mad. He's done nothing to deserve it, yet she used him from the start. The same as she used me.

All the torture and all the pain - that Renee had inflected upon me - was because she knew that once Charlie found out, it would hurt him. She always planned for him to know, I can feel it. Her words… the way she told me that she didn't know who my father was and that my father wouldn't want me anyways were just ways to try and make me doubt Charlie Swan when she finally handed me over.

She destroyed me so she could destroy him.

Ugh! I don't want to think about her or the time I'd lived with her.

The loud thudding of Emmett running down the stairs makes me smile for a moment. When I lived with Renee, I worried every time I heard a sound. I feared that she was coming for me, that she was going to act on her threats. Towards the end, I wondered if I would get away from her alive. Since coming here, I've found my reactions to sounds being the complete opposite. The noises I can hear coming from downstairs are comforting. They let me know that I'm not alone and that they are there. My body is able to relax and I feel safe.

If only I could shut off the thoughts that are racing through my mind. Questions keep coming but the main one is; could it be true that Charlie Swan had wanted me? That he had loved me? _Loves_ me still? For once in my life, am I not a burden? Am I actually wanted?

My cell goes off startling me. I look and can't hold back my smile. Like some sixth sense tells him that I need him, he always seems to know when to call. He can always help me put things into perspective and make me feel safe.

"Hello?" I greet.

"Hey, baby. How are you?" Edward asks gently.

"Confused," I answer honestly.

"Why?" He asks bewildered.

"Umm… it's a long story," I warn him.

"For you, I have all the time in the world," he assures me in his comforting and smoothing voice.

"Da— Charlie came back from the station; and told us how he met Renee. And that Tanya is Renee's sister." He expels a breath.

"Tanya is your _Aunt_?" He groans after saying that, like he's in pain.

"I umm… yeah, I guess," it's not something I really want to admit to myself.

"That's just… wow, did not see that one coming," he rambles.

"Would you…" I trail off, not sure I can ask this of him.

"Would I what, Bella?" He asks softly.

"Would you come get me, I just want out for a bit. It feels like the walls are closing in on me. It's fine to say 'no', I mean, don't feel pressured." I stop talking at his chuckle.

"I'll be there in twenty. And, baby, you know that I'm here for you, don't you ever worry about asking something of me." After saying 'goodbye', I change my shirt for something a little less wrinkled and slip sneakers on before going downstairs.

"Charlie?" I call softly.

"Hey, Bells, in here," he replies from the kitchen. Walking in, I find that he and Emmett are playing some card game and drinking root beers.

"Hey, hun," he smiles in greeting, his eyes look worried though.

"Hey, Bells, want us to deal you in?" Emmett asks.

"No, thank you. Umm… I hope it's ok, Edward is coming over to get me, we're going for a drive."

"Sure, kiddo, just be home by eleven. And keep your cell on, in case I need to get in touch."

"Thank you." I smile. The knock on the front door causes my smile to widen as I rush, almost falling down in my hurry to greet Edward.

"Hey, baby," he pulls me into his arms for a warm kiss on my lips.

"Hi." I reply, slightly breathless from the kissing.

"Are you ready?" I nod in agreement.

We walk out to his Volvo hand in hand. He brushes his thumb against my exposed fingers, sending little chills up my spine. When we get to the car, he opens the passenger side door for me and I slide in. Edward is always so considerate, opening doors is just one of the many sweet things he does for me.

"So, where to?" He asks with a smile.

"I don't know. You pick." I smile back. Being here with him has already begun to make me feel lighter.

"Alright, I'll pick." He agrees and puts the car in reverse to pull out of the driveway. "So, it's been a pretty crappy day, huh?"

"Confusing more than crappy," I say in response.

"Confusing how, baby?"

"Charlie told Emmett and I about how he met Renee and how she had wormed her way into his life. From what he told us, Renee used me as a way to 'punish' Charlie for not being what she wanted him to be. I guess, she wanted him to marry her or something. I don't know." I shrug my shoulders.

"So, how did she get involved with Charlie?" He asks; and as he drives I fill him in on Renee being a nanny for Charlie and using his grief to make him become dependent on her. As I'm getting to the end of the shortened version of those events, he slows the car and turns into a driveway. "I hope this is ok, it's a rental property that we have, the tenants just moved out, so I thought we could talk in peace here."

"It's fine." I assure him. We walk up to the smallish one story home and Edward unlocks the door.

"It's a partially furnished rental and my parents keep the power on for security reasons; so we should be good." He says flipping on the switch. It's a cute little place really. You can definitely see Esme's influence here; many of the colors from her own home are here as well.

"It's nice." I tell him softly, as he leads me to the sofa.

"Yeah, I don't come here that often. Generally, someone is in it, but it is nice. It was actually my Mom's Grandmother's house growing up. My Grandma inherited it then left it to Mom who can't bear to part with it. So, that is why we still have it as a rental." Edward rambles on almost nervously, running his hand through his hair. A shiver goes up my spine and he must have noticed because his in his next breath he asks, "Fire?" pointing to the cute fireplace and stack of wood. I nod.

"Please, it's a little chilly." He kisses the top of my head and goes to start the fire. After it starts crackling to life, he plops back down beside me and pulls me to him. I curl gently into his side, enjoying the fresh clean scent that is Edward.

"Bella, I don't want to, but I feel like… uh… we should discuss the fact that I had a short relationship with Tanya and that I did… well..." he looks at me then mumbles out quickly, "she and I had _relations_."

"I know that you dated, when we met her at the fair, she made that clear," I sigh, "do you…" I'm not sure how to ask him if he has feelings for her still, without seeming like I'm accusing him of something.

"Do I?" He turns me to face him.

"Do you still…" I just can't get it out of my mouth, "you know; maybe have…" I keep trailing off and thankfully he takes pity on me.

"Do I still _care_ about her?" I nod, "no, I'm not sure I ever did really care about her. She pursued me. We dated, we became intimate and then she tried to bring something into our relationship that I was uncomfortable with. When she forced it on me, I called the relationship quits. Tanya doesn't take 'no' very well; and believes that I will come back to her. I won't. I don't love her, I don't like her. I'm a little scared of her level of insanity, but other than that I feel nothing for her." He tells me seriously.

"Umm… what did she do?"

"Have you ever heard of BDSM?" I shake my head in the negative, "ok well, it basically stands for Bondage, Discipline, Sadism and Masochism. It's a type of lifestyle where the couples and sometimes they have other people join in to do role playing or scenes. Tanya was into it, I'm not. It's what most people call the really kinky stuff. Whips, floggers, lots of leather and handcuffs." He groans looking almost like he was going to throw up.

"While I have nothing against the lifestyle, it's just not something I'm into. Call me old-fashioned, but that's just me. Tanya couldn't grasp that; and one day handcuffed me down while we were having sex. While I wouldn't call it rape, I also wouldn't say it was completely consensual."

"Umm… I think Emmett must be into that BDSM stuff." I whisper blushing.

"Why?" He asks, while his eyes widen with interest.

"He has handcuffs between his mattress and bedsprings. I found them while I was cleaning one day." I giggle a little remembering my confusion over why my older brother had handcuffs.

"Bella, a lot of couples use handcuffs that aren't into BDSM. It can be used to just have a little extra something, just goofing around between couples. I don't want to go into details, because it's not something I like to think about. However, that afternoon with Tanya was more than just handcuffs. I could have handled that."

"Oh…" sometimes I feel so naïve about sex and this 'couple' stuff. Google only gives me so much without taking me to porn sites. And I just don't think I'm ready for the porno stuff yet.

"Bella, when - and please note that I did say when, because we live in a small town - this news about Tanya being your Aunt gets out, people are probably going to crack jokes and say stupid shit. It's not going to be easy. And, God, I wish I could protect you from that. The only way I can think to do that is by us breaking up, then there wouldn't be anything to joke about." I jerk away and look up at him.

"You're breaking up with me?" I can't help my shocked yell/question that flies from my mouth.

"No!" He shouts putting his hands on either side of my face. "Oh, no, baby. While that is something that would protect you, I'd be miserable without you at my side. I'm too selfish to walk away. Bella you are my life now." He whispers the last words before placing his lips on mine.

Our kiss starts out soft. He gently applies pressure and I mimic him. Slowly, he moves his hands from my face, one wrapping around the back of my neck, supporting me, the other landing about two inches above my butt. I link my fingers behind his neck, pulling him as close as I can. He doesn't resist and our once sweet kiss quickly turns heated. Tongues meet, teeth clink and suction is amplified. I feel the now familiar sensation of my nipples growing harder.

As Edward pulls me to sit on his lap, my legs move on either side of his, I can feel heat between my legs. I can also feel the damp that his kiss and touch causes. There are tingles and a need I'm not sure that it's time to fill it though. Kisses and light touches are one thing, but I don't know how much further I'm ready to go. I whimper a little when his lips meet my neck. His hands are both on my butt now; he seems to really like kneading my butt cheeks. I dig my nails a little into his neck, still clinging for dear life.

"Oh God, Bella," he mumbles into my neck, his tongue tracing a line then his lips kissing up it. My hips involuntarily buck into him. I gasp and look into his eyes. Edward's _little Edward_ was very hard. Very hard.

"Umm…" I can't help the nervousness that takes over. I bite my bottom lip and gaze into his glazed over green eyes. He gives me a wink and a crooked smile. I giggle and smack a kiss on his lips.

~0~

The ride back home, I hold Edward's hand when he's not shifting gears. He's talking about Christmas like an excited little boy. He jokes that Esme still makes them write Santa letters to take to Macy's to mail to Santa. It's for charity though, a fun silly way to give back. Last year, Edward and Alice hired a guy to dress as Santa and show up at the door on Christmas Eve with a bunch of letters asking if they didn't think they were a little old for writing him. Carlisle had gotten a kick out of it. From what he said, Esme not so much. So, this year Edward has to dress up like Santa and Alice as an elf to give out gifts to the sick kids spending Christmas at the hospital. I offered to help them and he smiled telling me I could play Mrs. Claus.

The fun silly talk stopped when we reached the house. Edward grew quiet and stared ahead. "It doesn't matter," he says out of the blue, "Tanya's niece or not, you are still _my_ girl. I adore you, Bella, and Charlie could be Charles Manson and I'd still adore you. Yeah, we might have issues that will need to be worked out in the future, but we can work them out together." I can't help my smile.

"I kinda adore you too." I tell him.

"Good," he cracks a huge smile then I notice him turn to look at the house, "I'd better walk you in, Charlie is peaking through the blinds."

"Ok," I agree.

We say 'goodbye' with another kiss, on the doorstep, and a promise to call me in the morning. I wave and watch him back away. Silly as it might seem, I miss him already. With Edward, I don't think I could ever get sick of having him around. In fact, the more time I spend with him, the more I crave to be around him.

"Hey, Bella, come here for a minute, sweetheart." Charlie calls as I come in the house.

"I'm not late, am I?" I ask looking at the clock that shows I am actually ten minutes early. Ten minutes that I could have spent with Edward and his lips.

"No. No, baby girl, you are on time. And you're not in any kind of trouble at all." He assures me. I take a seat on the sofa. Charlie, of course, is taking up residence in his favorite chair. "Liz called. She heard what happened today and was worried. I know it's the weekend, but she is coming to the house tomorrow. She wants to have a session with us all, Emmett included. I hope that it's ok I told her to come on over?"

"Yeah, I mean, sure. I guess." I can feel my earlier worry flood back in.

"Bells, you've been through a lot and we've all had a bomb shell dropped on us. I think Liz is just being proactive and making sure that things are really ok before any of us have time to burry any worries and cause more problems down the line. If that makes sense at all." He rambles a little, his mustache twitching the more nervous he gets about my reaction. I've noticed that before, that when Charlie is nervous his mustache twitches.

"It's fine, Da— Charlie." I assure him.

"Good," he breathes out a sigh of relief, "I just didn't want to overstep…" he trails off and I give him a small smile.

"Liz always says that it's better be safe rather than sorry. That is what the both of you are doing."

"Because we care about you, Bella. You're my baby girl. I'm at a loss of what to do or say here to fix things. I wish it was as simple as buying you ice cream and telling you 'I love you'. I'm good at dolling out food and love; it always fixed Em's woes. But we are getting there one step at a time, sweetheart." I stand up shocking him by reaching my arms around him for a hug.

"I could go for the ice cream too." I say into his ear. In my own way, the only way I can really get out right now I'm letting Charlie Swan know that I do love him.

~0~

Liz and Emmett are having a standoff. He's asking her all these questions about college and where she did her residency. I guess he googled psychology or something and as he told her was trying to make sure I was getting the best his Dad's insurance could buy.

"Emmett, I assure you that UCLA School of Psychiatric Medicine is highly accredited and thought of in the Medical Community. I did my 'residency'…" yeah, she used air quotes, "… on the psych ward of Seattle Memorial. I also spent five years working at a battered women's shelter where I helped women and children recover from abuse trauma." He gives her a warm hand shake.

"Alright then," he grins, "just no 'Freud stuff', I read where he was discredited and was a weirdo with Mommy issues." She laughs and nods.

"Agreed," Liz looks at me with a kind smile, "Bella, how about we talk alone first and then bring your father and brother in?" I smile back and nod.

"Emmett and I can go upstairs until you're ready for us?" Charlie offers.

"Sounds good. Thank you, Chief."

"Please, Liz, call me Charlie." Liz's smile softens a little bit more and her eyes kind of glaze a bit.

"Thank you, Charlie, and of course, Emmett," Emmett just chuckles and starts to head for the stairs.

"Come on, old man, I'll teach you how to play poker online."

"Hey, cut it out with the 'old boy', I know where you sleep at night." They both laugh and soon disappear up the stairwell.

"Bella, Dr. Cullen and your father filled me in on what happened. And the news that Tanya is your Aunt. I've also spoken to Charlie about his past with Renee. Now, I'd like to know how you feel about these revelations?"

"Well, umm… I feel bad for Charlie. I feel bad for everyone really. My being here has put a lot of stress on them. They took me in without any questions; and all I did was cost them money and brought Renee back into their lives. I'm a burden that they didn't ask for."

"Bella, does your Father make you feel like a burden? Does your brother?"

"No," I almost whisper.

"How do they make you feel, Bella?" She asks me kindly.

"They make me feel like they want me. They make me feel like they want to help me and be there for me. But…" I trail off, not sure how to say the rest, without seeming like what I just said is a lie.

"But what, Bella? You know this is a safe, that what we share is between us unless you want it to go further." She reminds me.

"But… but, there is this part of me that wonders if they are just playing with me, umm… Renee used to go through periods where she was nice to me, made me feel like she was sorry for being so mean. Then she would laugh at me and be ten times worse than before. I'm just worried that they are only pretending." I bite my bottom lip out of habit and feel guilty for thinking like that. For even comparing them to Renee.

"Bella, after Renee, it is perfectly understandable that you would feel this way. You're questioning the good because - Renee - for so long had made you feel like there was only bad. You've been let down so much by the person you should be able to trust over everyone else, the woman whom gave you life. So, your subconscious is always wondering when the other shoe is going to fall. Because if Renee didn't love you and didn't take care of you, then who else will? We've discussed this before, remember what I said?" I nod, "tell me then."

"That Renee is the one who wasn't able to love, that I'm lovable and worthy of having people care about me and that I deserve happiness."

"Right," She claps her hands together gently and smiles, "Renee is the one who is losing out because she wasn't able to see the wonderful girl that is sitting in front of me, because she was too wrapped up in her own issues and self. Your Father, though, he sees you. Your brother sees you too." She pauses for a moment. "Let's talk about Tanya for a minute. How do you feel about what she has done to you and the fact that she is your Mother's half-sister?"

"It's weird. I feel like I should be more upset about it than I am. It's like, I know who she is now and she's done so many bad things to me, but it's like…"

"Like?"

"Like… I'm on the outside looking in on it. Like, I'm not really part of it, even though I am. If that makes sense?"

"You've disassociated yourself from it basically. It's common in abuse survivors, especially when the abuser is involved. Renee was put away and you should have been safe, then Tanya - who is so tied to Renee - was able to get to you. Remember when you told me what you would do when Renee hit you, or played her torture games? You stepped outside of yourself so that it could no longer get to you. Going to your happy place, of sorts. I think that is what is going on now. You've distanced yourself in the same manner to avoid the hurt."

"I never did anything to either of them, I just don't understand." A tear slips down my face. She's right, I didn't want to go there because then I'd have to face the fact that another person who is related to me hates me and wants to hurt me.

"Tanya is a disturbed young woman, Bella. I can't talk about other clients you know this… however, I will tell you that I am treating a couple of students from your school who have been bullied by Tanya. You are not the only person she has gone after. With you, she was more aggressive because of Renee."

"And Edward." I say softly.

"Edward?"

"He dated her in the past."

"Ahh! So, it probably added fuel to her fire. Does it bother you that Edward dated Tanya?"

"No, not really. I mean, it was before I even lived in Forks. He told me about it, we had an open honest conversation, so, I don't think he's hiding anything like feelings for her. It's not like we knew before hand that she and I were related." I say firmly.

"Good. I agree, just be honest and open with Edward. If it is anything, I actually know a woman who married her sister's high school sweetheart. It's a long story but they all are happy and get along well. Life happens and love happens not always as it would be expected or how we would wish, but sometimes the craziest or most unorthodox of situations can end with the best surprises."

"Like a rainbow after the storm." I say with a smile, the two of us have had this discussion before. Not about Tanya, but how the bad or less than perfect can lead us to the great stuff.

"Exactly!" She takes a breath then nods her head towards the stairs, "how about we invite them back down here to talk with us? I'd like to focus on Renee's past with your father and I think that the two of them should be involved with this part."

"Ok," I walk up the stairs and knock on Emmett's door.

"Yeah?" Emmett yells through the door, then opens it with a huge grin on his face.

"You both can come down now."

"Cool. I think the old man needs a break from getting his ass kicked." He points to where Charlie is scowling at the computer screen, a game of poker pulled up in front of him.

"The computer cheats." Charlie claims closing out the browser. "You ok?" He asks me and I nod in the affirmative. They follow me back downstairs where we all take a seat. Liz pulls out her trusty legal pad that she always has around her somewhere.

"Alright, I have some notes on what happened in the past with Renee and I just wanted to go over a few things with all of you." We nod in unison. _Huh, maybe it's a genetic nod._

"That's fine." Charlie assures her.

"From my understanding, Renee used your vulnerability and depression to maneuver her way into your life and the bi-product of that is Bella, who she has used to cause you pain over the years, am I right?"

"Yeah, it was a bad time in my life when I met Renee and then she took my baby girl away and continued to use her to hurt me."

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

"What?" Charlie turns his head to look at me after I say this.

"Bella, what are you sorry for?" Liz asks.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"Bella, you didn't hurt me. Renee did. She hurt you too. You… Hell Emmett and myself as well were all pawns in Renee's sick demented game. She used Em when he was a baby to get close to me. Do I blame him for that? No, sweetheart, because she is the one who was to blame, he was just an innocent baby that needed a baby sitter. You were just an innocent child that never asked for, wanted or deserved the crap she pulled on you or with you."

"He's right, Bella. Renee is the guilty party. That's why she is in jail. Hell, if we wanted to play the blame game we could find ways for us all to be guilty somehow I'm sure. The bad guy is Renee and now, Tanya, and probably that Jean woman too. You, Dad and I? We're a family, baby sis, we love each other, unconditionally. The three wicked bitches can go to hell, because they will never be happy, they will always be miserable and mean because they will never know and never have that unconditional love that we do."

"That was profound, Emmett." Liz says with a smile.

"You love me?"

"Haven't we've said that before, Bella?" Charlie says with his own smile.

"Yes." I blush, "I umm… you know, love you both too." Emmett jumps up and pulls me into a hug, Charlie wraps his arms around us as well.

"Good, good I think we've made a lot of progress today, Swan family," Liz exclaims, "now if you need me, call my cell, you have the number. For now, I'm going to go and let the three of you spend time as a family." Charlie pulls out of our hug first to walk Liz to the door.

"Hey, Bells, how about we get some pizza, maybe play some cards or a board game, you know like a family night thing?"

"Ok… Em." I giggle when he lights up.

"Can an old man join you?"

"Wouldn't be the same without you and that pornstash of yours." Emmett laughs as he claps Charlie on the shoulder.

"Please, Da— Charlie." I say letting him know I want him to join us too.

"Good, I'll even spring for the pizza and toss in some breadsticks." He puts a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eyes. "Bella, sweet girl, you can call me Charlie, you can call me Dad or Daddy, whatever makes you comfortable. I'm your Dad as much as I am Emmett's Dad. Remember that, ok?"

"Thank you." Impulsively I hug him. Liz was right, Tanya and Renee's evil plot ended in a happy 'good' for me and my family. _My_ _family_.

* * *

**AN2: So Bella is growing and healing. I know it is about time! A lot of you were worried about Edward's reaction and honestly I never planned for him to react badly. I guess I didn't see the squeak nasty factor (I have an aunt who is only 6 months older than me and we went to high school together, she is married to a guy I dated for 2 weeks lol) as much as all of you as much as I saw Tanya as the catalyst for Bella and the gang to bond further and fr Bella to realize how much Charlie loves her. **

**I've done a couple of interviews lately, I have direct links to them on my blog dontrunffw(dot)blogspot(dot)com and I'd like to thank the Peas & Carrots blog, the Wayward Pushers blog and The Southern Fan Fiction Review for having me :0) **

**Some recs for those who like them, feel free to send me your recs too! I love a good Edward and Bella love story :0) **

**Highways and Broken Hearts (it's complete!) **/s/5873111/1/

**Modern Bandits and Neglected Dreamers **/s/5732142/1/

**Dark alleys and other love stories (It's almost finished just the epi to go) **/s/6251462/1/

**Days Like This **/s/6220974/1/


	29. Mystery POV

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: A full chapter is being posted as chapter 30 in the next 48 hours. Its with my beta right now. This is unbeta'd but important.  
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**Mystery POV**

I couldn't believe it when I heard Renee was put in jail. I was elated. The bitch was finally where she belonged. What shocked me was that she had a child, a girl named Isabella.

I wondered if the child was like Renee?

I also knew I needed to meet her for myself.

"Liam!" I yell.

"What?" He asks coming into the room looking frantic.

"We need to go to this place called Forks. Renee has a daughter that lives there." Liam gives me a look telling me that I am insane. "Please. I need to know Liam." He gives a nod.

"I'll call Kim and get her to book us a flight and hotel. This might not turn out how you'd like, you know that right?" He warns.

"I need to know." I say firmly then, "I have to know." With that he pulls me in his arms. By the new year maybe I'd find the truth. I sent a silent prayer that the answer was finally in sight.

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**AN2: Update on the plagiarist is on the blog. **


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

** Many thanks to TwiDi for her awesome beta skills. Love ya baby thanks for everything!**

**AN: There is a note at the bottom about the plagiarist. This chapter will have a couple of visual aids up on the blog, I'm working on getting them up there right now. **

**There is an upcoming outtake I'm working on since we reached 2000 reviews (insert girlie squeal and disbelief here). Many thanks to all of you for your support and love. This journey hasn't been quick I know, but I'm so glad that all of you are along for this ride. **

**This chapter was suppose to be up at Christmas, sorry about the delay my Mom was having some off days. If you missed it chapter 29 is a mystery pov that will be dealt with in chapter 31 in more depth. To The Extreme will be updated next, it's almost finished ;0) Ok I'm done now go read lol. **

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**Bella's POV** *this takes place the next day after the last chapter*

I called Edward this morning to fill him in on what had gone on yesterday. He was excited for me and confirmed that Emmett and Dad really do love me. Edward told me a story from when Emmett and he were younger. Emmett had wanted to run away from home to go kidnap me from Renee. Even without knowing me or anything about my life with her, he just wanted his baby sister with him. He had gone through all of Charlie's papers trying to locate where Renee was at the time and he had saved his allowance so we had funds for being on the run. Edward remembered how excited Emmett was to have fifty whole dollars, he just knew we could live on the lamb for years with that. Dad found Emmett two hours after he ran away riding his bike and trying to read a map. He hadn't even made it out of Forks. The story touched me, warmed me and made me want to bake Emmett some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Which is why I'm now standing in Wal-mart with Alice. Our local Thriftway was out of peanut butter chips, so I called Alice to see if they had any I could borrow. After looking and coming up with none she suggested we drive up to Port Angeles and visit the supercenter. I should have been worried when Esme kissed my forehead and said she'd pray for me after she learned where we were going shopping. I guess Wal-mart is kind of like a wonderland for Alice. She keeps picking up things and tossing them in her cart claiming they were a bargain so how could she leave it behind?

"Look Bella, they have the chips!" She exclaims pointing. I reached over and grabbed a bag and tossed it into my basket.

"Do you think I should grab two just in case of?" She nods.

"Good idea. The Thriftway is always running out of things. Between Forks and La Push shopping in there, I guess they just don't order enough of a most things."

"Agreed." I smile at her, "Maybe I should pick up a few other things while we're here, if umm… you don't mind?" I ask hesitantly. Alice's face breaks into a huge smile and she rams into me for a hug right there in the store. Slightly embarrassed from the public display of affection and not really knowing where it was coming from, I, just gently, pat her back with one hand.

"Bella, I am so proud of you. Just a few weeks ago you would have never have asked, I would have had to suggest it." And with her words I felt warm, just as I had the night before when it really hit me that my Dad and brother love me. Alice, my best friend whom I adore, can see me growing, healing and getting better at asserting myself the way most people think nothing of doing.

I wanted to call Liz and let her know that therapy is working. And that the sessions where we worked on me asking instead of holding back have really helped and she was right, the worst thing that could happen - in a normal situation with a friend or someone who cares about me - is that they could say 'no'. While a 'no' would sting, I would get over it. Liz assured me that people get over the word 'no' every day. And that a 'no' can sometimes be negotiated into a 'maybe' or even a 'yes'. So, why shouldn't I ask for what I need or want when the outcome has more chances of being positive than negative?

"Bella?" Alice calls my name, her voice concerned. It hits me that I had zoned out thinking about how happy I am with my progress and how I am actually using things from therapy to heal. It makes it seem worth the time, effort and the money that Charlie's insurance is paying for it.

"I'm ok, Alice." I smile at her reassuringly, "I'm really ok."

"Well, let's do that shopping then." She smiles even brighter and grabs her cart, "but I think we need to trade that little basket in for a buggy if you're going to do any more shopping." I nod and we head up to grab another cart, because Alice's is way too full for me to use.

We wandered around picking up odds and ends that I needed for cooking Christmas dinner for Charlie, Emmett and myself. I'm so looking forward to my first real Christmas, with a tree, presents, a big meal and the best part - a family who loves me to share it all with.

"Bella, do you mind if we stop by the music store before we head home? I want to grab Edward's gift, it should be in today."

"No, that's fine with me. Umm… I need to get him something too," I say shyly.

"Well, the music store is always the best place to look. I swear Edward's music room looks more like a school band room." She laughs a little, while rolling her eyes, "I ordered him some sheet music and had it personalized with his name and the Cullen crest put on it. I figured it would be unique, yet practical."

"It sounds perfect." I assure her. And it did sound perfect and completely _Edward_.

"What did you get Emmett?" She asks while tossing a half pint of egg nog into her cart.

"Oh, umm… I got him a pair of Scooby Doo pajama pants that I saw online in his size and two games for his Wii. He kept going on and on about the new Call of Duty game and he and Charlie both ohhed and ahhed over that limited edition four-pack of vintage Mario brothers game. So, I figured it might be something they could play together and enjoy. Do you think that's ok? I don't really know that much about video games."

"Great gifts, Bella! I think you did fine. And you just gave me an idea for what to get Jasper. Let's go to the game section!" She gave a tiny clap and I followed her to where she started looking in the glass case that held the Wii games. "Ok let's see, Jasper, should I get you the WWII Aces or the Cabela's Monster Buck Hunter?" I noted that the Aces game was only fifteen dollars and had an idea of my own.

"Alice, I can get Jasper the Aces game and you can get him the Buck Hunter so he can have both." I offered, knowing I still had to get something for Jasper and that game was within my budget.

"Excellent idea, Bella," Alice praises, before calling one of the workers over.

After finishing in Wal-mart, we drove over to the music store to pick up Alice's gift for Edward. In there, I saw a leather guitar strap, it was vintage looking, and screamed _Edward_ in style. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but I just knew that I needed to get this for him.

"Good eye, kid." A tall tattooed man tells me, startling me. "We just got a shipment in of those. Rumor has it that Faith Hill bought one for Tim McGraw." Umm… who?

"It's nice," I reply back quietly.

"Yep." He gives a little snort-laugh, "I'm Vlad." He reaches out to shake my hand and I tentatively take it looking around for Alice, who had gone to the back to get her order.

"Bella," I almost whisper back.

"So, Bella, you play? Or is this for someone else?"

"I no… no I don't, Edward does." I spit out, nervous with this strange, burly man, with more tattoos than I've ever seen.

"Edward?" He gets a grin on his face. "You're Cullen's sweet little girlfriend he won't shut up about when he comes in. Dude, I think you might be the only thing he loves more than music." Vlad laughs, "come on, kid I have an idea that I know he'll love." I follow him towards the back area where Alice is, not sure why I'm trusting him.

"Stefan, this here is Cullen's girl." He informs the bald guy talking to Alice.

"Well, this here is Cullen's sister." Bald guy, who I think is Stefan laughs pointing to Alice.

"Hi Bella!" Alice laughs as she greets me and I have to roll my eyes at her silliness.

"Hi Alice," I say back, feeling better with her in the same room.

"So listen, my idea is this, we got this machine that will embroider his initials or name, your choice into this strap, it takes about two hours though." He lets me know.

"Machine is in use, but we could do it up tonight and you can pick it up tomorrow?" Stefan offers.

"That's a great idea, Bella." Alice agrees.

"Umm… how much does it cost?" Unlike Alice, I am on a budget.

"Tell you what. Buy the strap and I'll toss in the embroidery for free."

"Ok," I agree, and he pulls out a book so I can pick the lettering.

"So, little Bell, what are you thinking? Edward or his initials?"

"Dude, I have an idea!" Stefan breaks in, bringing over Alice's stationary. "We can scan up this crest thing and add it in, along with his initials. That would be kick-ass."

"Oh, that would be, yes!" Alice agrees with a bounce.

"Well, little Bell, whatcha think?" Vlad asks me.

"Can I still pick it up tomorrow?" They nod in unison and I hold back a giggle, thinking about how Charlie, Emmett and I often do that. "Ok," I tell them with a smile.

"Alright then." Vlad smiles so wide I can see his tongue ring. "Tomorrow morning, this little baby will be waiting for you and tell ya what, you can pay me then. That way if you don't like it, you're not out anything. Tis the season and all that."

"Thank you." I impulsively hug the huge guy.

"Ahh hell, little Bell, think nothing of it. Your boyfriend keeps this place in the black, the least I can do is make sure his girl can get him a great Christmas gift."

"True that." Stefan agrees with a smile of his own. Alice just grins at me, joy and pride filling her eyes.

~O~

Everything was wrapped and under the brightly lit tree. It was perfect, out of a fantasy from my childhood. A tree with gifts, that actually had my name on a few and gifts that I'm able to give to friends and family. A tree that holds a glass ball with my name on it.

"Happy Christmas Eve, baby sis!" Emmett yells coming into the living room, Rosalie attached at his side. She was accompanying us to the Cullen's for Christmas Eve dinner. Tomorrow though it was just going to be Emmett, Dad and myself; and for once, Charlie didn't have to work.

"Merry Christmas, Bella," Rosalie says with a shy smile.

"Merry Christmas," I reply with a smile, my joy over Christmas not being contained. Rosalie looks shocked, I guess it's because I rarely talk when she is around. I'm still not comfortable with her and I, so far, have been lucky enough to avoid being in a room alone with her.

"You ready to go see what Momma C has for us to chow down on?" Em asks grabbing gifts from under the tree to take with us.

"I'm ready. I just have to grab the cake and cookies out of the kitchen." I tell him, going to the kitchen.

"Ohh, what kind of cake and cookies?" He asks.

"German chocolate cake and I made an assortment of cookies, gingerbread, sugar and chocolate chip."

"Oh God, tell me you made that from scratch chocolate cake with the homemade butter cream icing, topped with the walnuts? That cake is an orgasm on a plate." Emmett begs and I swear a little drop of drool comes out of the side of his mouth. Rosalie laughs.

"Em, you sound like a girl needing a chocolate fix during her time of the month." She exclaims.

"Taste the cake, Rose, trust me." He tells her seriously.

"Ok, ok." She shakes her head, still smiling. "Do you need any help?" She asks me and I see Emmett give me a look, I swear it was begging me to let her.

"Umm… sure, if you could carry the cook box?" Em smiles and winks and Rose smiles as well.

"Gladly."

"Emmett, could you grab…" I trail off as he holds up my wrapped package for Alice.

"Already loading them up, sis," he assures me.

"Thanks."

"Wow, Bella, it looks great in here." Rosalie says while looking around the kitchen.

In the past couple of months, Edward has been helping me fix up the kitchen. It's one of the _coupley_ activities we like to do together. We painted the room a soft lemon, sanded down all the old scratched up wood on the cabinets and painted them a bright white. Jasper and Emmett helped us with the table, sanding it and staining it to a light mahogany. Charlie - seeing all this work – had called Esme and got a great deal on some appliances through her suppliers. Since some of his were there since he was a kid, he figured it was time for an upgrade. Now, it looked like a cozy family kitchen. It was my favorite room in the house.

"Thank you."

"It's been a while since I've been in here, and I have to say the change is amazing. Not just in the kitchen, but in the whole house. The woman's touch, that you've added, has turned this place from a house into a home, Bella," she says, patting me on my shoulder.

"Thank you," I repeat, blushing at her praise.

"Bella, I was wondering if one day soon you and I could sit down, have a talk and maybe get to know each other?" I really didn't want to, but I know how important she is to my brother and because I love him and want him to be happy, I hesitantly agree.

"Ok, umm… I guess. We should get going though, I promised Edward I would be there by six." My eyes flash to the clock on the stove and see that we are cutting it close.

"Thanks, Bella, I just hope that one day you can forgive me and that we can be friends. Now let's go see your man." She grabs the cookies and motions for me to lead the way.

~O~

Edward and I were cuddled on one of the massive sofas in the Cullen's family room. We were all stuffed from the massive dinner Esme and Mrs. Whitlock had produced. I had to laugh though when Carlisle and Jasper's dad fought over the last slice of cake, both had already had a piece and were trying to sneak another. The sneaking was broken up when we all heard them in the kitchen arguing over who got to it first. Esme put an end to it by declaring it Charlie's. Both men had pouted and I couldn't help but feel a little smug that my little cake was so popular with these men who lived with Brenda Whitlock and Esme Cullen would claim my cake was the best thing they've ever had.

"Should we open gifts?" Esme asks sitting down beside us.

"Yes!" Alice exclaims from her spot on/beside Jasper.

"Alright, just remember, young lady, friends' gifts, not ones from Mom and Dad." Carlisle says semi-sternly.

"Or any gifts from my Alice. You can wait till morning for that." Edward laughs as Alice pouts at his words.

"Fine. Silly rules, but I'll deal." She sighs dramatically. "Dad, are you playing Santa?" Carlisle gives her a goofy-thumbs-up before sitting under the tree and begins passing out gifts.

"Alright, everyone, wait till they've been passed out so I don't miss anything." He warns.

"Yes, Dad." Edward and Alice say in unison.

Carlisle passed out the gifts and I was giddy. Yes. I, Bella Swan, was actually giddy. Not because of the gifts, but because people cared enough about me to buy me one. And yes, I was excited to see if they liked what I picked out for all of them.

"Ok, who goes first? Or should we go all together?" Edward asks.

"I've already thought this out." Esme tells him, pulling a Santa hat out from beside her. "Carlisle will draw a name and that person goes first, they randomly pick a gift from their pile and whomever that is from goes next, if the person's present they pick is someone who has already opened a gift then we pull another name. I'll keep pulling out names as we go so no one who has opened a gift is in there. After everyone has opened one, we'll just go randomly by who's ever gift the last person opened." I tried to keep up, I swear I did. I was a little lost, but in that moment, I could see where Alice got it from.

"Alright, and the magic number one person is," he makes this little drum roll noise and I giggle, earning me a wink from him. "Jasper."

"Yes! First year I won the draw." He gives a seated happy dance before closing his eyes and pulling a present. "Ok, this is from Rosalie." He gives her a grin opening the gift. "Holy crap! Thanks, Rose!" He exclaims pulling a t-shirt out of the box. "It's a 1978 Rolling Stone tour tee, the only one I had left to get for my collection." He tells us turning it around.

"Ebay, Jasper, you'd be surprised what you find," she informs him.

"Noted." He laughs, still checking out his shirt.

"Ok, Rose, your turn," Esme tells her, and Rosalie grabs a gift from the pile.

"Thank you, Edward," she says, after looking at the name tag.

"Welcome, Rose." Her squeal and 'thank you, thank you's almost drowned him out.

"It's a two-year gift subscription to pogo dot com games. You know my weakness for Dice City Roller!" She bounces and I have to admit, I've never seen her like this. Edward looks to his Mom who nods as he picks a gift up out of the pile.

"Bella." I blush, as he kisses my cheek in front of everyone. He pulls the paper off, then silence. He looks down at the strap, then back up at me. "Holy shit, baby!"

Next thing I know, Esme is yelling language and Edward's tongue is in my mouth. His kiss was passionate and intense. I can feel it all over. There is sucking and touching. As usual when kissing Edward, I quickly forgot where we were, at least until Emmett yells "Bow chika wow wow" gaining my attention. Reluctantly, we pull apart, my face red, but most of the room looks like they are about to laugh their butts off.

"What did you get, Edward?" Bless you, Jasper's Mom. Brenda Whitlock saved us some embarrassment and teasing. He holds up the guitar strap for everyone to see. By the tone of the room I think they all liked it.

"That is amazing, Bella. Very unique and very Edward," Esme assures me with a warm smile.

"It is, Bella, I freaking love it," Edward assures me. His face still blissful.

"Alright, Bella, open a gift, I want a turn too." Emmett pouts from his spot on the floor in front of Rosalie.

"Ok, ok." I giggle back at him. He's too funny with the pouting. "It's from Rosalie." I tell them, glad I picked her up something just in case of. It seemed the right thing to do. I open it to find a note. _It was too big to wrap._ The note states and I look up to see Rosalie was missing from her seat. She comes back in with a three feet by three feet board facing her.

"I had the idea and I hope you like it." She turns it towards me and it's a beautiful frame with the words Friends, Family and Forever engraved in-between slots that were filled with pictures of Edward, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Charlie, Rosalie, Esme and Carlisle. The one with Rosalie was from Halloween night when we all were in our pajamas watching a movie, trying to get over the craziness. Two pictures stuck out to me though. One with Edward and I looking into each other's eyes lovingly and the other was of Charlie, Emmett and I playing with Noel in our backyard.

"Thank you, Rosalie, it's beautiful," I tell her honestly. It was a touching gift.

"Emmett told me that your walls were empty and I thought maybe you'd want to fill them." I swear she is blushing a little.

"I will. This is so going on the wall beside my bed so I can turn and look at it." She seemed ecstatic that I liked it and I was very touched she had gone to so much trouble to give me something I'd like.

"Emmett, you're next." Carlisle said breaking into the silence. He had drawn Em's name. Emmett looked at his gifts and grabbed the one wrapped in Winnie the Pooh paper. I knew that was from Alice.

"This is from Lil' Ali C." He tells us, while ripping the paper open. "Wicked, Ali!" he tells her upon seeing the copy of the new A-Team movie.

"Welcome, Emmett," she says back, quickly picking up a gift of her own. "And this one is from Emmett." She laughs at the coincidence, then opens the gift. Inside she found a year's subscription to Seventeen Magazine. Alice's guilty pleasure. "Thank you, Emmett."

"Welcome, Ali." He salutes her before grabbing his next gift.

The gift giving went on till I went last, ironically opening my gift from Edward. He told me I saved the best for last and I had to agree seeing what laid inside. It was a two part gift. The first is a very nice leather bound journal with my name engraved in gold script on it. The other was a necklace. At the top of the pendent was a heart, the rest of it was in the shape of a key. The note that resided in the light blue box informed me that I know held the key to Edward's heart. I reached over and thanked him with a soft kiss. And a whisper in his ear, that promised I'd always take care of it.

~O~

Christmas morning dawned bright. We actually had sun, though it was still chilly outside. Charlie put a fire on, while I made pancakes. Emmett was watching some silly Christmas movie about a boy wanting to shoot his eye out or something. All it did for me was give me the urge to make fudge.

After eating, we opened our gifts. Emmett loved his games and he also loved the new stereo Charlie got him for his jeep. Emmett got Charlie some flannel shirts and a collection of Police Academy movies. I've never seen them, but the way Charlie's eyes lit up, made me think they might be good. My gift to Charlie was a massager that you sit on, it heats and massages all while you recline in your chair. I also gave him a new fishing hat, along with an assortment of lures and other thingies that fishermen need. The guy at Demetri's Hunting and Fishing place was very nice when he helped me pick them out.

Charlie gave us both gift cards, mine to Barnes and Nobel, Emmett's to Game Stop. We also received new clothes and ITunes gift cards as well. After that we watched a ton of movies, ate the lasagna I made for dinner and just vegged out. It was fun, lazy and the best Christmas of my life. Around eight Emmett went upstairs to play his new war game and I wanted to read this _Water For Elephants_ book Charlie got me for Christmas. However, ever before I did that, I had one more gift to give Charlie. Setting Noel off my lap, I leaned over to Charlie who was sitting beside me on the coach.

"Merry Christmas… Dad." The last part was little more than a whisper and I rushed away, nervous. But I did it. Finally. That one word was no longer something I couldn't say. I did it, I called him _Dad_.

**Charlie's POV**

The softly whispered 'Dad' warmed my heart and I thanked God for the best Christmas gift. Both of my children, healthy, happy and here with me. And for my baby girl - finally calling me Dad. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried to hold back. Last thing I want is for her to see this, it probably scare her off saying it again. A small yap at my feet let me know Noel was still here. Figuring she probably needed to go I walked her outside, letting her run the yard. My cell phone rang from my pocket, some ridiculous words about being Big Poppa made me groan. Emmett had changed my ring tone again.

"Chief Swan," I answer, in case it's work.

"Charlie, Merry Christmas! It's Esme. Do you have a minute?"

"Merry Christmas, back at you, Esme. And for you, I have two," I joked.

"Charlie I don't know how to put this delicately. Bella is coming out of her shell more and more. She and Edward are very attached and umm… loving with one another. I was just thinking…" She trailed off, then I heard her take a breath. "Oh hell, Charlie, have you had the sex talk with her?"

"Esme, oh hell. Damnit, I need… hell, I need a drink." I sputter out. My mind frazzled. Sex and my baby girl not the two things I wanted to think about _together_, let alone talk about.

"Charlie, I don't think Renee would have done it, or if she did it was probably some warped version of the talk."

"Esme, uhh… I'll handle it, I just…"

"Ok, Charlie, I'm here if you need me. Go, calm down. I'm sorry I shouldn't have called tonight. It's just something weighing on my mind. Well, that and I found Alice and Jasper in the middle of some heavy petting, so I kind of freaked out."

"Esme, it's fine."_ No it's not. My baby, oh hell no._

"Ok, Charlie. Merry Christmas again." We said our goodbyes and I got Noel into the house. Flopping in my chair, I grab the remote, figuring the TV might be a distraction from my thoughts. A Christmas Story was still running on its marathon and I hit it just in time to agree with the kid. "Oh, fudge!" Now I have to figure out how to have "the talk" with my daughter and not scar her for life. Or myself, for that matter.

Kids should really come with a manual.

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**AN2: Edward's gift to Bella, and Charlie's new kitchen look is up on the blog now lol. **

**Note on the plagiarist, she has taken down the story, and her profile note that basically called me an evil bitch. I heard many stories that she sent messages back to some of you saying I was sending her nasty messages and this and that. Not true, I sent her the one review calling her a thief, then I replied to her one message that asked me to let her keep the story up, to which I replied that there were to many word for word parts taken from my story. That is all. Anything else was a fabrication on her part. I'm now done dealing with her, since she seems to be gone. If anyone sees one of my stories being plagiarized, please let me know. And many thanks to all of you who reported her, and supported me during this time. Now the negativity is done lol, lets try not to talk about her anymore. **

**If you're still here I have a couple of rec's (people tell me they enjoy my recs so thats why I try to add them in) Remember add in the fanficdotnet address in then just copy and paste the /s/number part in. **

**Seeking ****Asylum*****complete* **/s/5502344/1/

**High School Confidential *complete* **/s/5948601/1/

**Running Into Walls *complete* **/s/5404942/1/

**Untouchable *WIP* **/s/5883849/1/ (Warning this fic does deal with the aftermath of a rape, but it is well written, doesn't glorify rape, or have the idea that a victim could fall in love with her rapist. It's heartfelt and really about healing. Yes it is an E/B love story too.)


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**AN: Thank you for all the lovely reviews and love you have all sent! I can't believe how close to the end we are with this story! Next chapter is already 700 words written so hopefully it will be out a hell of a lot soon. Visual aids are going up on the blog for those who enjoy them like I do!**

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**Bella's POV**

For some reason, even after being up late last night, I was still up at seven am. Noel and I made our way downstairs and made breakfast for us all. After feasting on French toast, Dad had to answer a call and Emmett went to shower. Putting things away I couldn't help but think about last night. Oh heck, I couldn't help but think about the _past two weeks_. After the best Christmas I've ever had and now the experience of a sweet New Year's eve's kiss with Edward at midnight, I keep pinching myself to make sure that I wasn't imagining things. Before I came to Forks, happy things didn't happen in my world. Now it's hard not to find something to smile about.

"Earth to Bella," Emmett calls from behind me. I jump a little startled out of my happy thought internal rant.

"Hey." I smile at him in greeting.

"Hey, baby sis. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Em," I return.

"So, what are your plans for the day?"

"I don't really have any. Edward and Alice are spending the day with their parents, some family tradition." I shrug.

"Yeah, I forgot that they go to their Grandpa Masen's grave up in Seattle every New Year's day, because it was his birthday, then they have dinner at his favorite restaurant before coming home."

"Edward said something about that. From what I gathered Esme was extremely close to her father." He nods.

"Yep, he died when we were just kids, but I still remember her falling to the floor sobbing uncontrollably. Alice was like three or four at the time, she started crying too. It was a big mess. I felt bad, but had no clue how to help."

"Hey kids!" Dad comes in, breaking up our depressing conversation.

"Hey," I return.

"Hola, old man," Emmett greets with a chuckle at Charlie's scowl.

"Old man my arse," Char— Dad jokes. "So, my beautiful offspring, your extremely smart – and if possible even more handsome than smart – father has a brilliant idea." Emmett starts laughing so hard he almost falls over. "Cut it out, kid, I still hold the purse strings." Emmett does this great show of zipping his lips.

"Duly noted, _oh great one_. But should I be worried that you have a _purse_?" I can't help the giggles that erupt from me.

"Emmett Charles." The double name should sound like a warning. However, Charlie's laugh makes it less threatening. "So, as I was saying, I have a brilliant idea for today. Since it's unseasonably warm, I was thinking of taking the two of you fishing. Billy and Harry called saying they were going and then a bunch of the tribe was having a huge fish fry out on the rez to celebrate. They invited us, saying the weather was warm enough that the pale faces should be ok."

"Sounds fun, Dad."

"Is there anything I can cook to bring to help out?" I offer.

"Ohh, Bells, that homemade coleslaw sounds great. Do we have the stuff for that?" Emmett asks me.

"No cabbage, but we have everything else."

"I'll run to the Thriftway – they are open for a couple of hours today – and grab some." Em offers.

"Ok," I agree, "and I can make up a bunch of those Russian tea cake cookies. They only take a few minutes, we have all the stuff." Emmett rubs his stomach.

"Hell yes, baby sis. You know those totally own me."

"Sounds great, Bells," Dad agrees, looking excited, "we're supposed to be out there by ten, late start for fishing, but it was a last minute plan." I look at the clock, I have time. It's not even eight yet.

"Ok." I nod, then they both nod back. _I swear it's a genetic nod._

~0~

"Ok, Bells, remember fishing is a sport for the patient ma— uh, I mean _person_. If you can't hold out for the fish, you are going to walk away empty handed. However, if you can wait it out, you'll walk away with the prize." Charlie/Dad was trying to explain the finer points of fishing to me as we are loading up his fishing boat. _Ugh! It's so hard this internal/external name thing. He's Dad, but my mind calls him Charlie too, I need to talk to Liz. Ok, Bella, pay attention he's still giving instructions._

"Emmett, tell your sister how many fish you have caught in your whole life," Billy demands laughing.

"One," Emmett grumbles, giving a tiny glare to Dad's friend.

"And how did you catch that fish, Em?" Char— Dad asks laughing as well. Emmett glares and refuses to talk, giving our father the evil eye.

"Bella, let me tell you a story." Billy says seriously in between his chuckles. "I think this will make you feel a little more at ease today. Your brother caught that one fish when he was thirteen. For years we have taken him along with the other boys out and Emmett had yet to catch a fish because he was too impatient to wait it out. Always getting fussy, or antsy."

"Or making too much noise and scaring off the fish." The one they call _Harry_ interjects.

"And that as well," Billy continues, "so one beautiful warm summer morning, we take the boys fishing. Emmett, as usual, gave up after the first hour of nothing. He starts moving about the boat, even though we told him a few times not to."

"To which he didn't listen," Dad adds.

"So, Charlie tells him to sit his arse down and we planned to take him back to shore where Esme Cullen was waiting with little Alice playing in the water. Well, Charlie starts the boat up and Emmett moved right as your Dad was taking off, next thing we know, Emmett is in the water. When we pull him back into the boat, a little minnow falls out of his swim trunks."

"And that was the day Emmett finally caught a fish." Charlie ends his story for him and I can't help it, I give a deep belly laugh that rivals one of Emmett's. Between the story and the blush on Emmett's face, I can't help myself.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, baby sis. Let's see how many you can catch, with that girlie rod of yours." He laughs pointing to purple fishing rod Dad bought me for Christmas.

"She'll probably catch more her first time out then you ever have, Em." Jacob taunts my brother. I'm ashamed to admit that someone had to remind me of the kid's name again, but at least today he has been fun. His new girlfriend Kyra might have something to do with it.

"Alright, who is going and who is staying?" Billy asks. Jacob's friends Embry and Quill join us, along with a guy named Sam. Emmett chooses to stay behind with Jacob and the others so he can help taste test the Quileute ladies' goodies that they are preparing to go with the fish.

"Ok then, let's do this," Charlie says excitedly, and pulls me into a side hug before helping me onto his fishing boat.

After we get situated in the water, Charlie shows me how to bait a hook, can't say I like that part. And after furrowing my brow and glaring at the poor worm, Charlie tells me not to worry about doing it myself today, he or one of the guys would do it for me. I couldn't help but smile and thank him.

Fishing is peaceful. All of our lines in the water and every one is quietly sitting or lounging around while they patiently wait. After about twenty minutes, Billy catches a fish, which they tell me is a Winter Blackmouth Salmon. They go on to explain how this is Salmon season, November through February, and it varies which breed is in season depending on the month.

We travel on for a little while longer, every so often someone grabbing another fish. Charlie is so far ahead with his count of three. I've yet to catch one. Sam changes my bait and assures me I am more likely to catch something with his rez breed of worm than those silly Forks worms that Charlie uses.

After another hour, Billy gives a warning that we'll be heading back in, in about thirty minutes. I know it's silly, but I am disappointed with this news, I just wanted to catch one fish. Just to prove I could. And ok, maybe in a way be able to have something to tease Emmett about one day, when I'm more able to pick on him the way Edward does. Thinking back, I remember a silly TV skit that I saw in school, where these two puppets are fishing and the one starts screaming "here fishy, fishy, fishy." I know yelling will be frowned upon in on this peaceful boat, so I decide to try something else. Leaning over the edge, as close as I can safely get to the water, I whisper, "here fishy, here fishy, fishy, fishy." I know it's silly, so I sit back and Embry winks at me.

"I've tried that before too, Bella. Sometimes when we are really desperate and the fish aren't biting we go blast fishing." He tells me.

"Blast fishing?" I ask him shyly.

"We drop homemade dynamite into the water, it's not nearly as powerful as the regular stuff, but it still will toss some fish in the air. They land on the boat deck or around it and we have a hall. We take the net and scoop up the floaters. Waste not, want not."

"That umm…" How do I politely tell him it sounds unfair to the fish?

"It's cheating is what it is," Charlie states, "plus if they pick up a floater that isn't from the blast and has been dead for a while, someone could get sick." While Dad is talking, I feel a weird tugging sensation on my pole.

"Dad?" I call softly, he turns to me grinning, his eyes seeming to glow.

"What, sweetheart?"

"Umm… I think I'm stuck on something again, it's tugging." Earlier when this happened, I pulled up a flip flop.

"Ok, turn the reel like I showed you." He scoots over closer to me, reaching for the net, "slow and steady."

The tugging got harder and the pull was too much, it jerked me forward. Dad grabs me and takes the reel into his hands as well. Together we pull hard. The rod is bouncing from the strain and the struggle on the other end of the line. Sam rushes over and takes the net down into the water to try and assist us. This ugly head burst above the water and Sam yells for the bigger net. Dad moves me and gets Embry to help him and finally in the bottom of the boat flopping around is the biggest, ugliest fish I've ever seen.

"Holy shit!" Quil exclaims, pulling out his camera to take a picture of the fish.

"I'm heading in, with that I think we could feed the whole lot tonight," Sam says with an awed voice.

"I can't believe she napped a Chinook her first shot out." Harry says to no one in particular.

"Chinook?" I ask, looking up from my large fish.

"Chinook salmon is what we call it out here on the rez, it's also referred to as the King salmon. They are a rare catch and the biggest of all the salmon. This one I'd say is well-over the norm of forty-five pounds," Billy explains.

"Bella, hold up the head and smile," Dad says pulling out his phone to take a quick picture, "Sweetheart, you just caught the biggest fish of any of us, ever." He exclaims with pride in his voice.

"Really?" I ask, excited.

"Really!" He replies just as excited as the boat cuts off.

"Holy shit!" I hear the voice of my brother and I turn to look at him. "That is one big-ass fish."

"Emmett, language!" Charlie laughs.

"A big fish which _your_ _sister_ caught," Billy informs him at the same time.

"Bella, you caught that thing?" I nod. "Holy sh— crap!"

"It's pretty ugly," Kyra says laughing, "but I bet it tastes good."

"Boys, we need to make the pit bigger, little Bella here brought in a sixty pound Chinook!" Harry shoots.

"Hey, sis, I think the fish is bigger than you," Emmett whispers in my ear.

"Umm, yeah," I agree with a smile. _I can't wait to tell Edward._

**Edward's POV**

After one hell of a long stressful day in Seattle with my family, we spent the night at the hotel before heading out early in the morning. I couldn't wait to get back home. And fortunately for me, I got my need for speed from Dad and we made it to Forks by two in the afternoon.

Once we hit Forks, I rush over to my girl's house because I just need to see her. After about twenty minutes of whispered '_I missed you's _between warm kisses, Charlie finally grunts loud enough to break us apart. After a cute blush and a nervous giggle, Bella pulls me to the sofa so we could talk. Holding her under my arm, with Noel in her lap, she tells me the story of her big catch and how much she enjoyed fishing.

Emmett comes in with Rose, interrupting our quiet moments and I ask Bella to go to the diner with me. It was an impromptu date, but I just wanted a few more minutes alone with her before we had to return back to school the next day.

"What can I get you today, kids?" The waitress, Molly, at the diner asks us.

"Umm…" Bella trails off looking at her menu. She gently bites down on her lower lip, concentrating hard.

"I'll take the cheeseburger deluxe with mayo, no pickles, fries and a chocolate shake."

"And, you miss?" Molly asks very gently taking in my sweet girlfriend.

"Can I please have the chicken tenders and a strawberry shake?" Bella asks softly. While my girl has gotten better with people, she is still very shy. I'm so proud of her though, months ago she wouldn't have been able to order like that.

"Want the fries with the tenders?" Bella gives her the Swan family nod.

"Please."

"Ok, sug. The food should be ready soon, I'll bring out the shakes in a minute."

After Molly leaves us, I reach across the table and take Bella's hand in mine. She has this adorable soft pink polish on her short nails. Her hand is soft and when I flip it over I can see the veins in her wrist through the translucent skin.

"So, my girl likes fishing?" I joke with a smile.

"It's so quiet and peaceful, Edward. Even though we were out in the middle of the water and I was surrounded by strangers. _Strange men_. And I still felt calm. And I actually caught something and it fed a lot of people." She says excitedly. "I liked it."

"Good, baby, I'm glad." And I am. Anything Bella likes that makes her feel peaceful makes me glad and happy for her.

"Here are those shakes, kids. Food will be out in a minute." Molly places them in front of us, smiling at our intertwined hands.

"Thank you." Bella tells her, in her sweet soft voice.

"You are very welcome, sug." She winks at us before going back to the counter to grab the coffee pot.

"So, Bella Swan, my adorable girlfriend. I wanted to ask you something important." She looks me in the eyes, I can see a little fear, but more than anything, I can see her curiosity. "Bella, I was wondering if I could have the honor of having you as my date for the Valentine's Day dance next month?" Her beautiful brown eyes get wide and an even more beautiful smile breaks out on her face.

"Yes!" She squeals in a very un-Bella like way. It's so cute. "Yes, please," she repeats in her more normal tone.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure that I'd have the prettiest and sweetest date there." I wink and she blushes. I wanted to ask early so she didn't question where I see our relationship going. I've seen too many idiots overlook asking their girlfriends to dances, or on dates, just assuming that they will know that the boyfriend wants them to attend together. I'd never want my Bella to have to worry that I don't want to go, or that I've asked someone else.

Ok and part of me asked early so I could beat Jasper and Emmett for once. They still haven't let me live down the fact that Bella didn't realize that our first date was _actually_ a date. This time she knows. And I can't wait to hold her in my arms and dance all night again.

**Bella's POV**

After Edward dropped me back home, I called Alice right away. If that is one thing that I've picked up on, if you have boyfriend news, you have to call your best friend and tell her right away. So, I did. And after she squealed, I couldn't help but squeal back. We giggled and talked for over an hour. She was worried Jasper wasn't going to ask her, but I reminded her there was over a month till Valentine's day, and she calmed down. Though she did talk me into going dress-shopping. I just hope this time I don't end up in the hospital with a panic attack.

My attacks have calmed since I started talking with Liz. In fact, overall I feel stronger. I know I still need more therapy, but I also know that it's working. And Liz says that the fact that I know it's working without someone having to point it out to me, will help my progress even more.

~0~

The return to school after vacation had gone pretty well. It had gotten out that Tanya was my aunt and honestly the majority of the kids were great about it. Angela and Kate had even given me their sympathies for having such a heinous relative. Lauren Mallory was the only one to try and make something of it. However, Rosalie shot her a look and she quickly scampered away.

Though, honestly I was glad it's Saturday. I've come to discover the joys of sleeping in on the weekends since I got here. Before with Renee, I had to be up by five-thirty every morning to clean, cook or whatever else she needed. Here, if I wander downstairs at ten-thirty on a non-school day, I'm just asked if I'd slept well.

"Hey, Bells, could you come down here for a minute?" Char— Dad, _ugh, _calls from downstairs.

"Ok!" I reply loudly so he can hear.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Noel is running as fast as she can to beat me to the living room. I slow down, knowing that my legs could easily beat hers. I like to let my baby think she can win. She jumps on the sofa and sits on the arm of it staring at Dad in his recliner. He gives a small chuckle and reaches over to pet the top of her head.

Charlie looks at me and flushes red in the face, he bounces his left knee up and down before taking a deep sigh and I believe he mumbled something about wishing he still smoked. He stands up in front of me and starts lightly pacing.

"Am I in trouble?" I ask nervously.

"What?" He pauses for a second then shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. "No, sweetheart, not at all."

"Oh, umm… is there something wrong?" His nervous energy is rubbing off on me.

"Bella…" he trails off, looks at the ceiling and takes another deep breath. "Bella, when girls and boys reach a certain age things umm…" He flushes red again then jumps when the door bell goes off. "Oh, thank God." He blurts out and rushes to the door. "Good afternoon, can I help you?" I hear my father ask.

"Sir, are you Charles Swan?"

"Yes, I'm Chief Charles Swan."

"Chief Swan, my name is Connor O'Rourke and this is my son Liam, I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time, it concerns your daughter Isabella." My pulse races and I jump up grabbing Noel. Who were these men and what did that want with me?

"And, gentlemen, what exactly is your business with my daughter?" I can hear the harder edge to Charlie's voice. I take a breath and try and reassure myself that Charlie will protect me, that my Dad won't let these strangers hurt me or take me away.

"Dad, you should just tell him, this will go easier if you don't beat around the bush."

"You're right, son." The older man agrees. "Chief Swan, you and I have a few things in common. We are both victims of the game Jean and Renee Higgins like to play with men. And we are both related to your daughter," he pauses, "only I'm her grandfather."

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**AN2: If you kill me you'll never know, if you review you might just know sooner ;0) Oh and ****I know I know To The Extreme is coming up soon, I just had to get this chapter out! Question, how many of you actually like when I put story recs on here? I just want to know if I'm wasting my time with them or not :0) **

**This weeks story rec, remember add the fanfictiondotnet addy in front of them **

**Suspicions The Tale of the Maybe Vampire** /s/5894242/1/ Geekiest Bella ever, and God I love her!

**Virgins Villains** /s/6284060/2/ Hollywoodward with a twist ;0)

**Legal Briefs **/s/5725029/1/ Strong yet vulnerable Bella, and Doctorward ;0)

Author spotlight Magnolia822 www fanfiction net /u/2206282/ LOVE her stories, Strange Brew and Cullen Sutras own me


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**AN: I was completely blown away by the reviews last chapter, and I thought that an early update would be my gift to all of you for so much love. I hope you are not disappointed. Oh and important Liam is Bella's Uncle not Father, some people were worried and I'm sorry I didn't make that clearer last chapter. **

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**Connor's POV**

"Dad, maybe we should have called first… or stopped by the police station. I mean, we could have given the man some kind of warning." Liam, my ever practical son, expresses his worry once more that he believes that I am going about this the wrong way.

"Liam, that's my grandchild in there, your niece. I just need to know, Liam. I need to know if she is ok. If she is like her mother and grandmother. And I need to see her with my own two eyes, boy." He rolls his eyes at me.

"Alright, Dad, but if this goes wrong, just remember he has a gun." I have to laugh because it's true. After the research I've done on the Swans - and the background check I ran to make sure that Charlie Swan was good enough to raise my granddaughter - the one thing that stood out above all else was that the man will pull a gun on you for messing with his kids. Phil Dwyer found that out the hard way.

"Noted, my boy. Noted." Straitening my tie one last time, a nervous habit of mine, I open my car door and head towards the Swans' front door. I can hear voices, but I'm not able to make out words. I knock and look at Liam who pats my shoulder, letting me know he is here with me.

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The mustached face of Chief Charles Swan greets Liam and I. Clearly the question of _who the hell are these people_ is written in his eyes.

"Sir, are you Charles Swan?" I ask politely, though I know that is who he is.

"Yes, I'm Chief Charles Swan."

"Chief Swan, my name is Connor O'Rourke, and this is my son Liam," I say pointing towards my son, "I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time, it concerns your daughter Isabella," I state, knowing I wasn't really asking. It was imperative that Charles Swan and I talked.

"And, gentlemen, what exactly is your business with my daughter?" Charles' voice has a hard edge to it. I don't take offence though. I'm actually satisfied at how protective he is over Isabella.

"Dad, you should just tell him, this will go easier if you don't beat around the bush," Liam utters with a slight exasperation towards me in his tone.

"You're right, son. Chief Swan, you and I have a few things in common. We are both victims of the game Jean and Renee Higgins like to play with men. And we are both related to your daughter," I pause, "only… I'm her grandfather. You see Renee is my daughter."

"What game are you playing?" Charles growls at me.

"None, Chief Swan, I swear my Father is on the up and up, I have the paperwork to prove it as well as some personal letters of references from people back home. If you would just grant us ten or twenty minutes, I'm sure you'll see that we mean no harm to Isabella. My father would just like to meet his other grandchild." Liam pleads. Charles nods and gives us the signal for 'one moment' before partially closing the door.

"Bells, go upstairs to your room until I say to come down, call Emmett and tell him to come home." I can hear him say.

"Ok, Dad." I hear a very soft female voice and my heart clenches knowing that she is there in the house. After a moment he opens the door and gestures to the living room sofa. It doesn't escape my notice that he's put his badge and holster on. Charles Swan was coming armed to this discussion.

"Alright, you have about ten minutes before my son and more than likely his friends come running through that door. I'd suggest you tell me your story and convince me not to let them hide your bodies out on the Reservation." He moves his recliner so that he can face us better, then sits on the edge staring us down.

"Liam, you go first with all your paper work, boy, then after he understands, I'll fill him in on the rest." Liam nods and opens his briefcase.

"First off, Chief Swan, I should formally introduce myself; I'm Liam O'Rourke, I am an assistant district attorney in Boston." Liam pulls out his identification. "A little before Christmas a case that has been being investigated about local Boston hospitals and clinics not reporting suspected abuse came across my desk. After further investigation into it, your daughter Isabella Marie Swan was listed as one of the children who were treated, but the suspected abuse was never reported."

"Wait, what?" Charles interrupts.

"A doctor by the name of Carlisle Cullen who is your daughter's primary care doctor here, correct?" Charles nods in agreement. "Doctor Cullen sent to the medical board of Massachusetts a complaint about three specific medical facilities, three facilities that were already getting complaints. The medical boards legal department contacted the DA's office so we could further the investigation. Needless to say there is going to be legal action against them. This was all exacerbated when a patient who was treated at all three of these facilities was allegedly killed by his father. According to the reports, the boy was in and out of the ER and the two free clinics all the time for bruises and broken bones, yet no call was ever made to social services to report possible abuse."

"Damn." Slips quietly from Charles' lips.

"Anyway, when I got to the file with Isabella's name, it also listed the name of Renee Higginbottom as the biological mother. Knowing that name well as one of Renee Higgins' aliases, I looked a little further to see if it was the same Renee Higgins; and after ascertaining that it was in fact my half sister, I brought my father in on the case. While telling of the case to my father boarders on _unethical_, I felt he deserved to know. Of course the information surrounding the case - other than the basic info I just gave you which is public record - was not something I shared." Liam adds, covering his butt like a good lawyer.

"Liam, that's enough, boy." I give a short laugh. "Chief Swan, if I may tell you a little story?"

"Yeah, sure," he says. You can tell the man's mind is a little rattled after Liam's long-winded speech.

"I met Jean Higgins while I was going to college. I was in my last weeks of law school. I'd had a beautiful yet boring fiancé that my parents picked out for me. Up to that point, I had done everything that they'd told me to do. I was the good little lad making my parents proud. But I was suffering a horrible ennui, as the Greeks put it. One night after staying at the library till closing, I went to an all night diner to grab some coffee and pie. A new waitress was on staff, Beautiful she was, with her blond hair and big blue eyes. She was laughing and having a grand old time dancing to the jukebox. I was the only customer in there, so I guess she felt free to goof off once I was served." I shake my head clearing the memories. "Something about her bewitched me. And soon I found myself dancing with her. The next night I came in looking for her, and there she was, as beautiful and seemingly full of life as ever.

"That night we ended up talking for hours, only pausing when she got up to take care of the occasional customers who came in. She told me about her abusive ex that she was running from and about her son who had died shortly after she gave birth to him. I told her about Alannah and my parents. By the end of the week, I fancied myself in love, and found myself warming her bed. I ended things with Alannah and brought Jean home to meet my parents, they hated her on sight. She wasn't Catholic, she was divorced and she was dragging their baby boy off the track to success."

"Dad…?" Liam questions as I choke up a bit. The memory of letting down my parents and falling into that false love still haunts me.

"I'm fine, boy, I'm fine." I assure him.

"Uhh… would you like a drink or something?" Charles asks, looking a little uncomfortable.

"No, I'm fine, lad, I'm fine," I assure him, "as I was saying, my parents hated Jean, so of course… I rebelled. Though, thankfully, I finished law school first. Jean and I lived in sin, just so I could flaunt it in my parents' faces. I got a job at a small firm while waiting to take the bar. I loved the law and I wanted to get Jean out of that restaurant. Soon, she was my stay-at-home girlfriend who took care of my needs as I paid our bills and gave her plenty of spending cash.

"After eight months, she comes to me in tears, telling me that she went to the doctor and that she was pregnant. I was shocked but happy. I went out that night and bought her a ring. We were planning a small wedding after this big case, I was working on, was over. One day while I was at the office, my father comes in and hands me a file, then leaves without a word. In the file is a background on Jean Higginbottom/Higgins. When I read it, I thought my father made it up, that it was all lies to get me away from Jean. So I rushed home planning on take her to Vegas for a quickie ceremony. Only when I arrived home, Jean was on the phone, I heard her saying something about her prime catch and how the deal was almost done. I left before she saw me and drove to my parents' home. My mother took me in and they both sat with me and neither judged me. My Mom told me that she only wanted what was best for me and she was sorry I was hurt.

"The next day, I flew to New York to visit the man located by the detective. He was the "violent ex" Jean had told me about, only he was this little thin nerdy guy named _Spencer Reid_. He was the quintessential science geek. The son, Jean supposedly lost, was alive and well attending first grade. He told me his story and I shared mine. He warned me that Jean would play games with our child's head and use it to make sure she gets what she wants. That she would try to use the child to get money, that the baby was just a paycheck to her. When I got back to Boston, I confronted her, she at first denied it, but finally she just laughed in my face."

"So, Renee really did learn it from her mother," Charles says softly.

"Yes, unfortunately. I refused to play Jean's game and refused to buy my child from her. Instead, I took her to court. Before we could even go to trial, Renee disappeared in the middle of the night with a five-month old Renee. When Renee was eleven, Jean showed up and left her with me. I found out later she was off running a new scam and needed Renee out of the way. My wife, Siobhan, and I did all we could to try and fix Renee. At eleven, my daughter acted more like a jaded and bitter twenty-something. I caught her smoking and coming on to the nineteen year old guy who did our lawn work. I found out that Renee had been threatening Liam that she could kill him and no one would find out. I took Renee to our church hoping to get her some _consoling_, our Priest was a wonderful man that helped a lot of people in the community. Spent time at the local prison trying to help hardened criminals find peace and change their ways. He was known to never give up and always believed that there was good in everyone. However, after three sessions, he refused to see Renee again, he swore that Renee had the devil inside her.

"When Jean showed back up ten months later, I'm ashamed to say that I gave her cash to go away and stay away. I wanted Renee out of my home. While Renee was there, Siobhan had a miscarriage and I still believe it was from stress. So, I had a wife and a young son that I worried for and needed to protect. I felt guilty as hell, but I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place as the saying goes."

"So, wait, I have to ask, Higgins? Higginbottom? Which is their real last name?" Charles looks confused, like I've given him information overload.

"Renee's birth last name is O'Rourke. And sometimes she and Jean used that name in their scams. From the research I've done over the years, though Jean's last name was actually Smith. She changed the last name at will, and often used Higgins or a variation of it due to an obsession with _My Fair Lady_'s Professor Henry Higgins. The one psychologist, that I talked to and shared my research with, seemed to believe that Henry Higgins was able to make a street person a lady and that Jean was hunting for her own savior so she fixated a bit on him as her ideal hero. Hence, she used his last name. I'm not one hundred percent sure about this, however, with Jean, I've never really been sure of anything other than I can't believe a word that comes out of her mouth."

"Chief Swan, we made copies of my father's research for you," Liam tells him, handing over a good-sized file.

"Thanks." He takes it and opens it up to skim.

"Chief Swan…" I hesitate, not certain how to put this.

"Just call me Charlie," he grumbles. And I can't help but grin.

"Charlie, then, please, call me Connor. As I was saying, Charlie, I just found out about Isabella, I stopped looking into Renee's life when she left at twelve. And I didn't go searching again until Liam told me about my Granddaughter. I _have_ seen her since then though, and I think this is important for you to know."

"Ok then." Charlie nods.

"Around ten years ago, Renee showed up at my house, she had read Liam's wedding announcement in the paper and showed up to cause problems. She was drinking straight from a bottle of champagne and looked very pregnant. Liam's new bride, Maggie, knew she could never have a child, so she was pissed that Renee could so carelessly treat the blessing she was carrying. Renee's latest scam had gone south, the man she was scamming went bankrupt, so Renee would get nothing. That is why she was there. She was bitter that we had all gone on with our lives and were happy."

"My wife hired a private detective to follow Renee and to find out how the baby was. In the three months he followed her, he never once saw Isabella. He did however find out that right after birth, Renee put the new baby up for adoption. Maggie swooped in and without Renee's knowledge she and I adopted Renee's other daughter as our own. Claire just turned ten." Liam hands Charlie a photo of Claire.

"So, she's Bells' cousin slash sister?" He shakes his head like he's trying to clear his thoughts.

"Yes, and we are so thankful for her every day. Claire is a sweet, kind loving girl. She is a little slow, not much though, due to Renee's drinking during pregnancy. But there isn't a wicked bone in my daughter's body." Liam says proudly.

"Charlie, we came here for several reasons. The first, being to verify that Isabella is really Renee's daughter. Second, to let her know that she does have other family out there, who are nothing like her mother and grandmother. Lastly, I needed to know what she is like. I'm sure you often wondered what your child was like when she wasn't here with you. I'm her Grandfather, and since the moment I found out that she existed, I wanted to know her."

"Bella is nothing like Renee," Charlie says firmly, "she is exceptionally smart. Doing advanced courses in school. She is sweet and loving. Very shy. Renee treated her like shit. But my baby girl is coming around. I won't let anyone else hurt her ever again," he warns.

"Charlie, we are not here to hurt her. I swear on my beloved wife's grave." I assure the man. It's true I just want to love my Grandchild, I want to know her.

"Charlie, both my Dad and I know that it isn't easy to trust someone associated on the maternal side of Isabella's family. I just hope that with time you'll come to trust that we only want what is best for her. Here are some letters of personal recommendation that friends and members of our community have written for us." Liam hands him the stack. "Also my wife, Maggie, and daughter, Claire, are in a hotel in Port Angeles right now. We didn't want to overwhelm you with all of the O'Rourke's descending upon your house at once. But if you will allow it, Claire would very much like to meet her cousin. She knows she is Isabella's sister biologically, but she understands that Isabella will be her cousin."

"Ok, listen, I'm going to run your information, don't doubt that. If you aren't on the up and up, I would hate to be you." he warns. He picks up his cell phone and calls someone asking for a background check on both Liam and I then tells them to call back asap before hanging up.

"Do we need to wait for the background checks to meet her?" I ask. I'm sure my longing to see my oldest grandchild is in my voice.

"No, I will let you meet her, but if the background check doesn't clear, you have been warned." He glares once more, touching his side arm. "I've told you, Bella is shy. Don't be shocked if she doesn't talk to you. Call her Bella, she prefers it." Both Liam and I agree with smiles. He looks at us one more time, grumbling something under his breath that I couldn't understand, before going to the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Bells…"

He's cut off by the front door flying open. A behemoth of a boy I'd say over six-foot-five storms in with a look of rage on his face. Following him is two other boys, over six feet, one carrying a baseball bat, the other what looks to be a tire iron.

**Bella's POV**

I listened as the men told my father about Renee and her mom, how they too had been hurt by them. I wanted to go down, to see what these people who claimed to be related to me looked like. However, I knew better than to do that. I'd just upset Dad. He knew how to protect me, I had to believe that. If these men were threats, Charlie would never let them near me.

I felt a little guilty about eavesdropping, but the knowledge that I have a little sister/ cousin out there made me curious as to what she is like. I tried to remember that far back, ten years ago. I remember being five barely. I spent most of my time in the closet that year, Renee had a special friend who hated the sight of me. That is about all I can remember. Maybe she was pregnant and at that age I just didn't notice, or thought she was getting chunky. I hated to think of Renee. Her name even made me feel nauseas.

"Hey, Bells…" Charlie's voice is broken up by the sound of the door. I jump worried that the men are hurting him. I look around trying to find something to protect him with. A memory of a shot gun in his closet that he said didn't actually work because he had taken apart the firing mechanism. It was for show in case someone broke into the house and I needed protection again. Something to scare them off. I ran and grabbed it, shutting Noel in my room before inching my way to the stairs. My legs shook, but there was no way these men were going to hurt my Daddy.

"Who the hell are these people, Dad?" I heard Emmett demand. My stomach dropped, _they have Emmett too!_

"Calm down, boy." I hear Charlie say to them.

"Charlie, where is Bella?" Edward demands, his voice hard. My sweet Edward. _If they lay a finger on him, I will beat them with this gun, I don't care if it doesn't shoot, it will hurt to get smacked with._

Finally, I sit down and take the steps slowly on my butt, hiding behind the railing. I can hear voices, but not words. Renee used to whisper threats in my ear, that was often worse than the yelling. Maybe she learned that from these people. I lean around the steps and see the tall younger one with red hair pacing. I can see the back of Charlie's head in his chair. I couldn't see Emmett and Edward though, maybe the older guy had them. The younger one turned and walked towards Charlie and I leapt into action.

"Back away from my Dad!" I yell pointing the gun. My body's shaking and I can feel one of those panic attacks coming on. But I have to keep it together, I can't, won't fall apart when they need me!

"Bells, calm down." I hear Father's voice.

"I won't let them hurt you, Daddy." I say softly back.

"Aww, baby girl, they won't. I promise." Charlie tells me gently coming towards me he takes the gun and sets it on the floor before pulling me over to his chair. He sits down and pulls me into his lap where I break into tears as he holds me whispering how everything is going to be alright.

"You keep a shotgun around the house where the kids can get to it." I hear the voice of the older man, he's yelling at my Daddy. I look up and glare at him. I will not let them hurt Charlie!

"It doesn't work, it's all for show." Emmett tells him coming over to kneel in front of our Dad. He places his hand on my hair and pets me the same as he would Noel.

"Bella, baby, here take this. It's just a small dose to calm you down some." Edward comes in giving me about a quarter of a Xanax pill and a glass of water. I down it, though I don't want to. I need to be sharp for this.

"Don't worry, Bella, it's ok." Jasper stands over us, his tire iron in his hands. He grins and I give a weak smile back.

The guys sit in front of Charlie and I like sentry guards. I feel safer knowing that they are there. The older man keeps shooting glances at us, his face scrunched and worried looking. He goes to say something a few times but stops before the words come out. The younger guy seems to be just waiting on the older one.

"Bella, Dad's wearing his gun and his badge, the station knows these guys are here. Calm down, baby sis. Nothing and no one is going to hurt you." Emmett looks back at me and winks. His assurances calm me some, Edward's hand on my ankle rubbing it reassuringly is helping as well.

"Bells, I'd like you to meet Liam and Connor O'Rourke. Connor is your Grandfather and Liam is your Uncle. They don't want to hurt you, sweetheart." Dad whispers in my ear. I look up slowly, taking deep breaths the way Liz taught me.

"Hi," I whisper, and the older man's face breaks into a huge smile.

"Hi, Bella," The older one says softly, "I'm so happy to finally meet you." His eyes are so kind. I glanced at the other man and he gives a soft smile. "I'm your Grandpa, sweet girl."

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**AN2: So thoughts? Hate me? Love me? Indifferent? lol**

**So we have around 5 chapters left of the story, maybe 6 and an epilogue. Also there are no visual aids for this chapter. **

**By Sunday anyone reading To The Extreme will have an update, there is a teaser up on the blog. **

**So around 85 percent of you want the rec's or like them so here we go: **

**Fate and Forgotten Secrets /s/5331891/1/ :** A childhood heartbreak. An adult betrayal. "If anything else goes wrong, it will be the final nail in my coffin. I'm sure of it." Will Bella's pain and Edward's secret push them together or tear them apart? M, violence, AH, A/U, OOC, E/B, canon pairings.

**Sins of the Piano Man /s/6036342/1/ :** Twilight AU. A reclusive vampire's bittersweet swan songs for the victims he regrets draw in a young woman struggling with her father's illness. As fate brings them together, Edward's dark past threatens to tear them apart. ExB.

**Comes and Goes /s/6460615/1/:** Edward is used to lose everything he ever cares for, but when he decides to save a homeless girl from a terrible fate he learns that maybe, just maybe, love comes and goes in waves.

**The Phantoms Scars /s/6668880/1/:** First officer Edward finds a scared broken girl and does everything in his power to help her. Running for your life sometimes means fighting for the courage to actually let yourself live. This story is all EPOV Rated M for a reason, no rape scenes.

**Author Spotlight: edwardandbellabelong2gether /u/1472772/  
**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**AN: Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Please take a moment afterwards to take the poll on my profile, I'm writing an outtake for charity and I'd love your feedback. A visual aid is going up on the blog after I get the chapters posted. **

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**Liz's POV**

"Are you sure that it is normal?" he asks me for the millionth time.

"Mike, it's perfectly natural at your age." I assure him, trying to keep a straight face. Of all my patients, Mike Newton has to be the most amusing. His problem? His Mother walked in on him masturbating a couple of times and she decided that he is a sex addict. Now, I'm paid to sit here once a month for an hour and tell him that it's normal to masturbate and that it doesn't make him a sexual deviant. I also encourage him to lock the door when he feels the need to 'pleasure' himself.

"So, I'm not going to go blind or grow hair on my palms?" Did I mention that Mike's Grandmother also walked in on him? Poor kid. She called the Pastor and demanded that the boy be saved. She then called poor Pastor Weber a heathen and charlatan when he explained to them that this is something people do and that though there is one section of the Old Testament that says spilling seed is a sin, he doesn't feel that Mike will burn in hell for pleasing himself. He tried to explain that it would be far worse if Mike went out and fornicated, and perhaps even impregnated some girl, than having a little alone time. Mr. Newton, unfortunately, was afraid of his Mother-in-law and his wife, so it's up to me to tell Mike he's not going to burn in hell, or go blind.

"Mike, there is no medical evidence that proves that theory and let me assure you that you are not the first person to ever masturbate, nor will you be the last. I can almost promise you that a good portion of your school and this town has in fact masturbated."

He gets a glassy look about his eyes and I can tell I've lost him to some sexual fantasy he was having. The hard part about dealing with teenage boys, they tend to drift off if anything sexual in nature catches their attention. Not saying that girls don't do it as well, it's just I've found in my experience that boys are the main culprits in these situations.

"Well, Mike, how about we end our session a few minutes early today?" He technically has five minutes left in this session, but I really don't feel like sitting here with him right now. Did I forget to mention, he's shifting in his seat and his "manhood" seems to be growing.

"No problem, Dr. C, see you next month." He's eager to go now.

"Remember, Michael, _lock_ the door." He gives me a thumbs-up and runs for it.

"Doctor Compton?" A few minutes later Amber, the receptionist sticks her head in.

"Yes, Amber?"

"Chief Swan is on line two for you. He says it's urgent." She informs me.

I take a second to wonder why Charlie didn't just call my cell phone. Then I remember that he could have, however I put it on silent before meeting with Mike this afternoon. I quickly grab the phone in hand and load up line two.

"Good afternoon, this is Elizabeth Compton speaking." Dumb I know, but I'm awkward on the phone, always have been. I much prefer face to face meetings.

"Liz, its Charlie." His voice is so warm and manly, but it also is holding a trace of fear.

"How can I help you today, Charlie?" I ask him; trying to push back that little crush I have on Charlie Swan and remain professional. I adore his daughter and I'd hate for my unrequited affection for her father to cause her any set backs or harm.

"Well, Liz, we've had a bit of excitement around here and… oh hell, I think I messed up." He goes on to tell me about Bella's maternal Grandfather showing up along with an Uncle. That he didn't think and let them into the house to talk to them and then Bella's extreme reaction to the threat they posed to her family.

"Charlie, I will be there in less than twenty minutes." I assure him.

"Thank you, Liz. Thank you so much."

**Emmett's POV**

One minute Edward and I are playing Call of Duty, while Jasper whispers sweet nothings into little Alice's ear, the next, my kid sister is on the phone telling me I have to get home. She quietly tells me that there are men at the house and Dad told her to get me home. She was terrified and I didn't blame her after what she told me she'd overheard.

"Guys, I gotta roll. Bella just called scared out of her mind, some guys are at our house and Dad asked her to send for me. She said she heard the name Renee dropped."

That was all it took for Jasper and Edward to demand coming with me. Edward grabbed his baseball bat, from the hall closet, and somehow between the Cullen home and mine, Jasper's freaking tire iron appeared. I swear he went no-where near his car. I have no clue where that thing came from.

"Alice is getting Mom and Dad prepared in case we need them." Edward lets me know. He's on his cell with Ali, whom we had to beg and threaten to lock in a closet to keep her at home.

"Good, good." I'm already plotting places we can hide the bodies if need be. I look back to Jasper in the back seat of the jeep. He's rubbing his tire iron and gazing out the window. He could be either plotting as well, or mentally going all Gollum on us and calling it his 'precious' his head.

After pulling into the driveway, we all jump out and rush in. I stop when we find Dad and the two strangers in the living room. Jasper and Edward flank either side of me and I take an offensive pose. I've seen guys in a way better shape than these two run-for-it when I gave them the '_I'm gonna fuck you up'_ look.

"Who the hell are these people, Dad?" I demand in my strongest, hardest voice.

"Calm down, boy." Dad tells me, he doesn't look upset, more frazzled than anything. I try to calm down, but I can't help it I'm on alert.

"Charlie, where is Bella?" I hear Edward ask Dad in hard voice. He's clearly on alert too, and I promise myself to be easier on him with dating Bella from now on. His first thought was her and, to me, that shows a lot about how much he really cares for her.

"Upstairs," Dad says quietly. Both Edward and I have moved further into the living room, Jasper rounded to the other side, we had them surrounded. "Guys, stand down, it's ok." Dad continues in his calm voice.

A light thumping noise grabs my attention and I turn to look. Bella was holding the shotgun. Holy shit!

"Back away from my Dad!" She yells at the top of her lungs, pointing the gun at the younger guy, who had jumped in front of his father. You can see that her body is shaking; her finger is trembling on the trigger.

"Bells, calm down," Dad tells her, moving slightly towards her.

"I won't let them hurt you, Daddy." You can tell she isn't really with us right now. Her face is whiter than… well, it's really _damn_ white. Her eyes seem like they are looking at the scene in front of her, but not really seeing anything. It's hard to explain, it's like the lights are on and she is in there, but she is moving on auto pilot, some weird part of her taking over.

"Panic attack, maybe some disassociation," Edward mumbles to himself. I don't know if he is diagnosing her, or talking about himself.

"Aww, baby girl, they won't. I promise." Dad speaks to her as if she is a small child and walks towards her slowly, as if she is a wild animal. Once he gets the gun out of her hands, he takes her to his favorite chair where he puts her on his lap and rocks her like she is a small child.

"It's going to be alright, baby girl, Daddy is here," he says quietly, a few times and you can see her body start to relax.

"You keep a shotgun around the house where the kids can get to it!" Old dude yells out and I explain that it's just for show, before going over to sit in front of Bella. She is glaring at the old guy in the sense of that if she had a knife, he'd be dead. Not knowing what else to do I pat her gently letting her know I'm there and that she is safe.

"Bella, baby, here take this. It's just a small dose to calm you down some." Edward is as quick and sneaky as Jasper. Somehow, he came by some panic meds and water without me even seeing him leave the room. Jasper walks over, pats Edward on the back with his one free hand before looking at Bella.

"Don't worry, Bella, it's ok." They share a grin before he joins me and Edward on the floor in front of Bella. We are like the Hadrian's Wall in its heyday, nothing is getting by us.

"Bella, Dad's wearing his gun and his badge, the station knows these guys are here. Calm down, baby sis. Nothing and no one is going to hurt you." I assure her. Dad goes on to introduce Bella to the old guy and his son.

"Bells, I'd like you to meet Liam and Connor O'Rourke. Connor is your Grandfather and Liam is your Uncle. They don't want to hurt you, sweetheart."

"Hi," she whispers, and old dude—I'm sorry—Connor grins widely; it's like a light turned on inside his head.

"Hi, Bella, I'm so happy to finally meet you. I'm your Grandpa, sweet girl."

"How?" She looks at Dad for the answer, probably remembering that Dad's Dad died before she was born. Surprise Gramps has to open his big mouth not giving Dad a chance to ease her into it.

"Your _Mom_ is my daughter."

"Renee?" Her voice is once again filled with fear.

"Yes, and I'm…" Before he can even finish his thought Bella screeches like someone attacked her and jumps off Dad's lap.

"No!" She yells before dropping to the floor.

"Edward, stay with her, I'm going to call Liz and your Dad. Em, Jazz, stay close." I nod.

Edward has already picked up Bella's limp form and pulled her into his arms. Liz had explained to Dad and I that panic attacks can be different for each person; and that it seemed for Bella, when it got too much, she just blacked out. I'd never been around her when that happened before and it would be a lie if I said I wasn't scared.

"What is going on?" Surprise-Gramps, a.k.a. _dipshit,_ asks as he moves closer to us.

"Bella's system shuts down when she gets over stimulated." Edward, sounding a lot like his Dad in that soothing clinical tone.

"Dude, back off some…" Jasper advises Surprise-Gramps in a cool tone, as he goes to reach towards Bella's face. He quickly backs away.

"I'm going to call Maggie, Dad. I need to give her an update."

"Go ahead, Liam," SG, as I plan on calling him, tells his son.

"Liz will be here in a minute, Carlisle called through and he's almost here as well." Dad comes back in the room, looking at Bella's quiet form lying in Edward's arms.

"I should have given her a stronger dose; I figured a quarter of the pill would take some of the edge off and still keep her coherent. I'm so sorry, Bella." Edward says harshly. He holds my sister tighter and rocks her just a little bit.

"Edward, you're not a doctor, boy. Don't blame yourself. At least, you thought of her meds. I'm the idiot who didn't take these guys down to the station to talk, then ease my baby girl into this." Dad takes up Edward's self loathing and plops down beside us to rub his hand through her hair.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea…" SG says from his spot on the sofa. The old guy looks like someone killed his puppy.

"I don't think all this self-hatred is helping anyone." I look up and see Liz coming into the room. "How long has she been out?"

"About five minutes at the most." I tell her.

"Alright, first, let's get her up to her room; she'll be more comfortable there." Liz takes over and I take Bella from Edward's arms and carry her up the stairs.

Liz and Edward follow me into the room, where Noel is plopped on the bed sound asleep. I swear the dog snores louder than Dad. Edward runs over and moves Noel and pulls back the quilt so that I can lay Bella down. Edward sits on the bed beside Bella and runs his fingers in gentle sweeps around her face. Noel crawls out of his lap and curls into Bella's side. The pup seems to know her Momma needs her right now.

"Emmett, could you go get a wash cloth? Run it under cold water, wring it out and bring it back, please." I run and do as she says. I've seen Bella do this before. She explained that the cool helps to calm her. I guess Liz must be aware of this as well.

By the time I make it back, Liz has pulled a desk chair up beside Bella's bed and is talking to Bella in soothing tones. I walk over, hand Liz the cool cloth and nod at her thanks. Liz passes it to Edward who wipes it gently over Bella's face before placing it on her forehead. You can tell there's an improvement already in Bella's body. Her color is starting to come back slowly and her body seems to have released some of the tension in her stiff form.

"Hey guys, Liz." Carlisle comes in behind me, patting me slightly on the shoulder before going over to Bella. "Let me check her vitals as a precaution and we'll go from there."

He quickly gets to work, taking her temperature with one of those ear thermometers and then checking her pulse and blood pressure. He makes these little _mmmhmm_ noises along with nodding his head. Edward and I share a look, both of us wishing he'd just say what he was thinking out loud.

"Dad?" Edward almost groans.

"Her vitals are fine, I don't think we need to go to the emergency room." He turns to Liz. "I'm going to administer a sedative to help calm her."

"I gave her a quarter of a xanax earlier, Dad." Edward adds.

"Good to know, I'll adjust the dose based on that. Good thinking though, Edward." Carlisle praises and takes a syringe out of some plastic, pulls out the sedative and I turn away not wanting to see him stick her with the needle. "She'll probably sleep for a while, this is pretty strong." He warns.

"It's probably for the best, Carlisle." Liz tells him, "she's been doing so well, and she's just started feeling safer here in Forks and this has been a shock to her system."

After a few minutes we watch as Bella's body relaxes even more, Carlisle informs us that we should let her rest for a while and go help Dad out downstairs. Edward elects to stay with Bella, refusing to leave her alone.

After we get back downstairs, Liz begins to ask us about what had happened. We begin by telling her about SG and his kid showing up, and that he is Bella's maternal grandfather. Dad goes into detail about Bella pulling the gun and all her reactions. And after we finish, she takes a calming breath.

"It sounds like Bella's system became hyper alert, her safe zone was upset. Her normal reserve was pushed to the back burner, as she more than likely disassociated with reality. Her mind's flight or fight took over and the fight came out to protect her safety zone and the person she has come to see as her protector, Charlie, from any and all harm. I believe once she was calmed for a moment, her system took in that Emmett, Jasper and Edward were here as well to protect not only her but Charlie as well. That is why when the threat of Renee, which Connor, you and Liam, represented when she was told who you were and her flight response took over and she folded into herself. Hence her blackout."

"I have to agree with Liz." Carlisle adds, "think about the way Bella tries to take care of everyone. She always wants to cook, or clean and if you need someone to talk to or help you out, she not only is there but she will also volunteer. Then remember the last time a hostile male came in this house, it was Phil. Instead of thinking about her own safety, she worried about Charlie. Connor and Liam were two males and since they were unknown and Charlie sent her to her room, she was on edge. These men probably became threats the minute she knew they were unknown to Charlie. Male threat brought back thoughts of Phil and how helpless she felt. All of this combined and Bella…" he trails off trying to find the right words I assume.

"Became Annie Oakley?" I jokingly say. Carlisle laughs and nods.

"Exactly, Emmett," he agrees.

"Not to be rude, but I'm thinking it would be best if Connor and Liam are not here when Bella wakes up. That way she'll feel calmer and we can have a chance to talk to her." I tell the people in the room.

"I have to agree with Emmett." I knew I liked Liz for a reason, "Bella needs to feel safe. After she has been explained the situation, it should be up to her to decide if she wishes to meet you or not." Liz explains to Connor and Liam. "It has to be on Bella's terms and her wishes. If you want any kind of relationship with your Granddaughter, Conner, you have to understand that the child hasn't had a lot of choice in her life, she has been told what to do, with no room for her wants or needs. If you force yourselves into her life, she may never really accept you. While if you let her come to you, you have more of a chance that she will come to accept you the way she has Charlie and Emmett as people who want to love and care for her." Liz gets heated as she speaks. You can tell that she is passionate about helping and protecting my sister.

"Dad, I can't help but agree with them." Liam says in a strong voice. "Renee has done a number on Bella and for us to prove that we are nothing like her, we need to give her space and time. It may take a day, a month or years, but someday when she is ready to come to us, we'll be there with open arms waiting."

"We'll go. We'll stay in the hotel in Port Angeles for a week, to give her some time. After that, _if_ she is ready, call me and I will be on the next flight out." He hands Dad a business card which I'm assuming has his contact information.

"Let me walk you out." Dad politely gets up and walks them to the door.

**Edward's POV**

Three hours she's slept, three hours I've waited for her to come back to me. I felt helpless and useless. When she finally woke up and her pretty brown eyes met mine, it was like all the anxiety and all the worry slipped away. My Bella was awake and from the soft smile that was now gracing her lips, she was going to be ok.

"Edward?" Her voice is a little rough and slightly hesitant.

"I'm here, baby." I assure her.

"What… umm… what happened?" Her voice is almost a whisper as she stumbles over her words.

"What do you remember, Bella?"

"Two men came to the house and Dad sent me up to my room. I heard a little bit of what they were talking about and I heard the word 'Renee'." She looks down and at Noel who had worked her way into Bella's lap. "I don't really remember much after that."

I pull her into my side, trying to give her some of my strength and also assure her that I'm here. I have this feeling that Bella had a reaction to Renee's name and disassociated with herself after that. Ever since her blackout in Seattle I've been reading up on anxiety and panic disorders so that I could keep an eye out for any signs or trouble. It helped me to feel like I was doing something to take care of my girl.

"Are they gone?" She asks in a whisper.

"Yes." I assure her. Emmett had come up a while ago to let me know what happened downstairs. "But, Bella, from what I've been told, they weren't here to harm you or Charlie. Connor O'Rourke is Renee's father. However, the way it's been explained to me, he was tricked and treated much like Charlie. I don't know all the details yet, baby, but when we talk to your Dad I'm sure we'll find out more." I can't hold back the laugh when out of all of the seriousness of the past few moments her stomach growls. It's like a much needed comic relief in the middle of an angst fest. After a moment her giggles join my laugh. "Time to feed _the_ _Bella_?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," she says with a laugh.

We go downstairs and find Emmett and Charlie eating pizza in the living room. They tell us to grab plates and join in. We watch the first Major League movie and laugh. When I get up to get a drink Emmett follows me and lets me know that I can spend the night and that everyone left to give Bella some breathing room. However, she is expected at Liz's office in the morning for a session.

Later that night while I'm asleep on the couch, I feel the blanket move and a small form curl up next to me. I pull her close and she sighs. I kiss the back of her head, loving the smell of her Honeysuckle shampoo.

"Is this ok?" She asks quietly.

"Yes."

"I feel safer when you're near." Her voice is still quiet, but the words make me feel like she shouted from the roof tops that I was her personal hero.

"I feel better when you're near too." She hums softly and in the silence I hear the soft sounds of her breathing as she falls asleep. After I'm sure she is gone, I say what I haven't been brave enough to say while she's awake. "I love you, Bella."

* * *

**AN2: So I hope you all liked the chapter. Remember reviews are like candy, without having to worry about overeating or gaining weight. **

**Stories that totally own me right now (All are B/E pairing) full links and my takes on the fics are on the blog if you have any problems finding them: **

Foul Territory /s/6357447/1 (wip)

Losing Faith /s/6371061/1/ (wip)

The Mystery of You /s/6348280/1/ (wip)

How Can I Help You? /s/6666399/1/ (wip)

The Colony /s/5273646/1/ (complete)


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: So sorry for the wait, most of you know that between a broken hand, and family health problems, which included my step dad almost dying I've been pretty much blocked and out of the game. I know I've probably lost a lot of readers, but for those of you still here, thank you so much. I promise the next update is not that far off, I've already got most of it written. We are in the home stretch of this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it has some growth on all the characters and takes place about 3 and a half months after the last one. We are prepping for Prom, and graduation. **

**Thanks again to the lovely TwiDi for beta'ing this story and being an all around awesomesauce lady. Thanks to to my lovely pre-reader PaigelovesRob for pre-reading and putting up with my crazy.  
**

**If you need a recap: **

**Bella came to live with Charlie and Emmett after living with an abusive mother for most of her life. Renee is in jail being Big Bertha's Bitch (I'm thinking of doing an outtake of her life in prison). Phil the asshole is dead. Bella's maternal grandfather and uncle showed up, Bella had an episode, but overcame it. She and Rose have both been in therapy for their problems. Rose is working her way back into the fold. Jasper has a woody for his tire iron. Edward is all kinds of amazing. And now on to the chapter...  
**

* * *

After talking to Liz the morning after the disastrous meeting with my _maternal_ Grandfather went down, I felt a little better about my reactions to him and the situation. It was nice to know though that Connor O'Rourke and his family didn't have any plans force themselves into my life. And after much thought and discussion with Liz, Alice, Esme and Edward came to the conclusion that I could—at least—meet them. Esme suggested dinner at the Cullen's house as a meeting point. I agreed, and though it was a bit uncomfortable at first, I'm glad I'd agreed to go.

I was shocked to find out that I had a half-sister/cousin. It sounded weird at first till I found out that Liam and Maggie had adopted Claire—and that it wasn't Liam and Renee's baby. Claire was sweet and she made me swear to add her to my gchat and skype. Of all the O'Rourke family, I'd have to say she was the one I was most comfortable with.

Connor told me his story; and I felt so bad that Renee and her Mom played their games on him. He was funny, charming and by the time we said goodbye, I was honest in my promise to keep in touch.

Liam made me a little edgy, mainly because his eyes looked so much like Renee's, only they lacked that evil spark to them. Liz told me that it was fine if I didn't want to be buddy/buddy with the whole family. That they opened the door for me and I took the first step by letting them in—and in promising to keep in touch, we all had kept the door open for more in the future.

And for the past three months Claire and I talked at least once a week if not more on Skype. She was sweet, funny and unaffected by the evils of our shared mother. It was sort of like a window of what I could have been like if Renee had left me with Charlie. In some ways I was jealous of Claire. But, mostly, I felt affection for her and I was happy that Liam kept her safe from Renee.

"Bells, Alice and Rose are here!" Emmett's booming yell breaks my introspective thoughts.

"Coming!" I reply loudly so he can hear me downstairs. "Be a good girl while I'm gone, baby." I kiss the top of Noel's white head and rush downstairs to meet up with Alice and Rosalie.

"You ready?" Alice asks with obvious excitement.

"Yea, let me just tell Dad we're leaving. He's in the backyard." Rose laughs.

"Is he still playing with his new toys?" Rose asks and I nod with a smile.

"Yes, and I swear the damn thing is winning." Em laughs from his spot on the couch watching a baseball game.

"I sometimes worry that we were cruel giving him a Garden Weasel for his birthday." Poor Dad can't seem to get it to do exactly what he wants.

"Dude, he should be arrested for killing the back yard." Emmett jokes, "Yard-acide!" Alice and Rose both laugh at my silly brother while I make my way out to the back yard.

Emmett was right though, the yard was a mess. Charlie was trying to dig the perfect garden. The Garden Weasel wasn't cooperating. In Charlie's mind it wasn't the tool though, it was that he needed to try it in a different spot in the yard. The result? Very little grass is left in our _once_ perfect lawn.

"Dad?" I call gently to get his attention.

"Hey, Bells." He looks up from where he was staring at a newly '_massacred'_ area of the yard.

"Alice and Rosalie are here, we are heading out."

"Ok, hold on a minute, sweetheart." He puts his tool down, and walks towards me, reaching in his pocket. "This is one of those pre-paid Visa cards. I put five hundred on it. I didn't want you carrying all that cash around. That should be enough to get you a pretty prom dress and accessories. Anything else left over just grab you some summer clothes." He explains pressing the card into my hand.

"That is too much, Dad, and I've saved my allowance…" I trail off, biting my lip as he just grins.

"It's not nearly enough, baby girl. Save your allowance and let me have the pleasure of knowing that I can give my daughter a nice prom dress." He pulls me into a hug and I respond in kind. That is something new between Charlie and I. It's easier to hug and we do it more often. Liz said that it's reinforcing our family bond and building trust. I just know it gives me a warm feeling when he hugs me. It's helping to heal the fear that Renee had put in me for so many years.

"Ok. Thank you." I tell him, and, spontaneously peck him on the cheek before we pull apart. He's blushing and grinning.

"Well, alright then," he says, "don't keep those girls waiting. Call me if you need me and I'll be there as quickly as possible."

"Ok, Dad." With a wave 'goodbye', I walk back inside.

~0~

We arrived in Port Angeles, music blaring, Alice singing along and Rose and I laughing at her. It was nice to finally be friends with Rose. While we are no where near as close as I am with Alice, we are working on it. Liz even had a session where Rose came in and we talked. I found out why she was so adverse to me at first, and I explained why it was so hard for me to just be friends with her. We both walked away feeling closer to one another. And I can't help but wonder when she and Em are going to make it official that they are together.

"Where should we go first?" Alice asked us. I just gave her a look; and she knew I had no clue about where to buy a prom dress in Port Angeles.

"_Tegan's Fine Designs_ always seems to have a nice selection," Rose tells her.

"_Tegan's_ it is, then." Alice looks back at me and I nod in approval.

We walk into a nice little store that had dresses on display along with shoes, bags and some cute accessories. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to afford anything in here. Generally, little boutiques are expensive. Alice seemed to notice my slight withdraw and grabbed my hand.

"Bella, are you ok?" she whispers. I give her a smile and nod. "We can go somewhere else if you want, plus no one says we are going to find our dresses here."

"I'm fine, Alice," I assure her. Though her assurances helped to calm me.

"Hello, ladies," A tall woman with raven black hair and pretty sky blue eyes calls from behind the counter. "If you need any help, let me know. Also, we have a lot of sizes in the back for most of these dresses. So, if you see something you like, but not in your size, don't be afraid to ask."

"Thanks, Tegan," Rose replies. The lady smiles again and picks up her Harlequin romance novel and continues to read.

"Ohhhhh, Rose, look at this one," Alice calls excitedly holding scarlet red dress out to Rose, "it's in your color."

"Alice, it is pretty, but I'm thinking I'm ready for a change. I always felt that wearing red and making a statement to gain attention was something that made me happy. It really didn't. I often felt like a fish stuck in a fish bowl of her own making. I'm graduating high school, going off to college. I think it's time to find '_me'_; and not the fish that wants out of her fish bowl." She hangs the dress back up and looks over at the rack next to it and smiles. "I'm going to try this one on."

"It's very pretty." I tell her. And it is _really_, very pretty.

"Thanks, Bella." She rushes up to ask Tegan if it is available in her size, to which the woman smiles and goes to look.

Ten minutes later, Rose has her dress. And while it's not red and bold, it still makes a statement. Sexy, yet classy and very feminine… the dress screamed Rose.

"Ok, ladies, your turn." She tells us. We have to laugh at the way she keeps looking longingly at where her dress is hanging behind Tegan at the register. "Any idea on what color or style?"

"No clue," I answer honestly, "just something that covers my scars." I almost whisper.

"Bella…" Rose trails off looking uncertain, like she wants to say something, but not sure how to say it or if she should at all.

"Bella, scars or not, Edward thinks you're beautiful, and so do the rest of us," Alice tells me.

"Bella, I think you're fine the way you are. But if the scars make you feel uncomfortable, why not do something about them?" Rose pulls me towards her and talks low. "There is prescription medicine that helps and also some things you can buy at the store that works." She lifts her shirt in points. "You can't even see where my appendix was removed. My therapist said that maybe healing the outside would help me heal the inside. So, Carlisle wrote me a script for Medermia. Within two months you could barely tell it was ever there."

"Mom swears by Palmers coco butter scar and stretch mark serum. We can get that from Wal-mart or CVS. She had old stretch marks from her pregnancies. Now, she has firm smooth skin. I so plan on using that when my time comes." Alice turns white and looks at Rose.

"Alice, it is fine." Rose looks sad but not crushed.

We're quiet for a minute, but I'm seriously thinking about trying their suggestions. Why should I be burdened with the marks Renee had left on my body? Why should I let her cruelty determine anything for me? If I want to wear something that shows a little more of my back, I should be able to.

"Holy crap! This is the dress!" Alice is doing this little whole body squirm/booty shake thing. "It is so perfect." She sighs and squeezes it to herself. I can hear Tegan laughing at the register.

"Size 4?" She questions and Alice nods excitedly. The woman goes to grab her size and Alice looks like she is in seventh heaven.

"Bella." Rose gets my attention and pulls me over to her. She points to a dress. It's so pretty. I touch the silky material gently. "Why don't you try it on," Rose urges and I look at the dress longingly. "I'll get Tegan to grab it in your size, why she only puts size 8 on display I'll never know." Rose huffs and walks towards the back where Tegan had gone to get Alice's dress.

I discreetly look at the price and feel a thrill go through me. One hundred and thirty dollars and twenty cents. It was in my price range; and that would leave plenty over to get shoes. The only problem is the amount of back and shoulder the dress would show.

"Bella, we can get a pretty shrug or shawl for you, if it would make you feel better." Alice tells me, still hugging the dress to her body. I nod and give her a smile.

"Here you ladies go." Tegan hands us both our dresses and shows us to her dressing rooms. I tell Alice to go first, still worried that this dress wasn't going to look good on me. I'm already half in love with it, but still my fear is taking hold of me. I work on pushing it down, trying to stay positive.

"Squeee!" Rose and I look at each other and laugh. Clearly Alice is happy. She opens the dressing room door and spins around for us. "I love it! It's mine and Mom's favorite color, so I know she'll love it too. And it doesn't make me look like a hooker, so Dad will approve."

"What?" Rose laugh/coughs out.

"The only rule Dad gave me was, if I looked like a hooker I couldn't go to the Prom with Jazz. I think he watched Jersey Shore or something because he was suddenly giving us all a lecture the other night on teenagers and their lack of clothing these days. Like I want to look like some skank? Hello, I'm all about classy/sexy. Not trashy." Alice, while ranting, had moved her hands to her little hips and huffed when she was done. It was adorable.

"Alright then," I say channeling Charlie. My two companions both look at me and start giggling. I can't help but roll my eyes at them.

"Alright then," Alice says sarcastically, "Miss. Swan, get your cute tushy into the dressing room and let us see that dress on you," she demands pushing me into the room. I take a gulp of air and let it out slowly. _I can do this._

~0~

When we finally got back home, I rush upstairs to hang my newly acquired prom dress in the closet. Then place the other shopping bags down on the bed to go through later. Noel was no where to be seen, so I walk back down the stairs to find my baby. Not seeing her in the house, I go to see if she is out in the back yard. I was pleasantly surprised to find Edward there. Even if he was covered in dirt. And busy staring at the back yard with my Dad, brother and Jasper.

"Bella!" he greets with a happy wave and his beautiful smile.

"Hi." I smile back. The others greet me as well. "What's going on?" I ask a little worried.

"Well, we got the garden dug, the old fashion way. Three teenage boys, three shovels and one grumpy old man yelling orders. Then we were trying to figure out what to do with the yard, grass seed or sod." Em explains.

Edward walks over, places his dirty hand in mine and I smile. He looks so adorable… and well, _hot_. He's sweaty, dirty and umm… yeah, _hot_ is the word for it. He takes my mind off of the others until I hear a little yap at my feet and look down to see my baby. My sweet pretty, fluffy baby… covered in dirt.

"Why is she out here?" I ask as calmly as possible.

"Well, she looked lonely…" Edward trails off when he sees the glare I'm shooting him. "Sorry, baby." He looks me in the eyes and I can't help but melt.

"It is fine, but you are helping me bathe her," I inform him. He laughs because Noel and bath time isn't fun. You have to wash her quick because if she can get away you weren't going to find her for the rest of the day.

"No problem, love." He kisses my forehead, "let's go wash our baby." I sigh and hold his hand as we go in to take care of our sweet Noel.

**Emmett's POV**

"Whipped," I tell the others and they laugh.

"It's great to see her coming out of her shell more and more," Jasper says.

"She's still pretty shy in public; and isn't one to trust easy. But my baby girl has come a long way," Dad says proudly. "I'm so thankful that Liz was the right fit and able to gain Bella's trust. She has been a huge help in getting Bells to where she is now."

"Charlie, I think you and Em have been an even bigger help to her. You gave her a family she could trust and rely on. She has a real home, food in her belly and doesn't have to worry if she says something that someone is going to go off on her," Jazz tells Dad.

"I agree with him, Pops. Yeah, Liz is a help and went to college for years to be able to help kids. You, me… hell, all of us really, have given Bella a real family and security. My kid sister, she's a smart one. She'll be fine and we'll all be there for her."

"Even when she's Bella Cullen," Jazz jokes.

"Oh hell, that better not come too soon. I just got my baby back." Dad groans.

"We all know it will come though, Pops." I laugh and he gives a big sigh, and nods.

"I know, son. I know."

~0~

After deciding just to get some professionals to come lay new sod in the back yard, Dad, Jazz and I crapped out in the living room to eat pizza and watch the game. Edward and Bella headed out to go have a picnic or some '_romantical'_ shit that Edward plans for her all the time. _Romantical_, is that even a word? Huh.

"Hey, I gotta head out. I promised Mom I'd be home early."

"I'll walk you out, man." Standing up I try not to laugh at Dad. He was snoring lightly in his old recliner. Poor guy, the garden wore his ass out.

"Ahh hell." Jasper groans looking at his cell. "Ali called three times and I forgot the thing was set on silent. I better call her back when I get home. She probably needs to tell me about Prom dress shopping." He groans again.

"I still can't believe we are only three weeks from Prom, man. High school is almost over."

"No shit." Jasper leans against his car. "You still going to UDub?" I nod.

"Full ride, hard to turn that down, dude. I know I gotta play ball for it, but in four years, I'll come away with a degree free and clear."

"Did Ed tell you he's going there too?"

"Yeah, he got his acceptance back in April. Carlisle was a little bummed that Edward wasn't going off to Yale or some other Ivy League fu fu school. But Esme was so happy he was going to be nearby that it's all cool."

"Great," he says kinda gloomy.

"You still waiting on your letter, man?"

"Oh, I got my letter alright. I was wait-listed. You know my grades are nowhere near Ed's and my ball is nowhere near your skills. And my parents can't afford to give an endowment to the school to get my ass in." Ahh… so this is why Jasper was so bummed the past couple of weeks.

"What are you going to do? Wait and see?" He shakes his head in the negative.

"Nah, man. I'll probably try and get a job. Maybe enlist or some shit."

"Dude, while I give big props to the military and the guys that do it. I'd miss ya, and Ali would skin you alive if you did that to her." An idea pops into my head. I'm a genius, not that I didn't know that already, but damn I'm good. "Hey, why not just go to the community college, and work on getting some pre-reqs done then transfer in. Hell, if I remember right, when we had that college fair PA community college has some kind of program with UDub, where you can get started in a program and transfer without having to worry about being denied as long as you have a 2.2 GPA."

"Ya think?" He asks seriously, hope blooming in his eyes.

"Yeah, man. I'm pretty sure about that. You could live at home, save some bucks too. Then when you transfer you can move in with Ed and me, man."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna check it out." He grins. "And at least one of us will be close by in case the girls need us." I grin back.

"Yeah, that is a load off the mind." We give each other a manly fist bump and talk for a couple minutes more before he takes off into the night. Once again Emmett Charles Swan comes through. I'm like a problem solving savant or something.

I am the man.

Walking back into the house, my cell goes off. Rose. We've been in this weird not completely together, but kind of dating limbo for a couple of months now. It feels natural to be with her, and we've worked out some of our issues. Still there is something holding us from moving forward.

"Hey," I answer.

"Hey." Her voice is a little rough, almost like she had been crying or something.

"Are you ok?" I'm instantly ready to go beat someone for messing with her.

"I'm not sure. You see I'm in love with this big lug, have been for the majority of my life. However, we had some problems and drifted apart. I thought we were working it out. Today though, I went shopping for prom dresses with my friends and when I got home with this perfect dress it hits me…" She pauses for dramatic effect. "My former and maybe current boyfriend has yet to ask me to go with him. Edward asked Bella three months ago, Jasper asked Alice last month. Me I've had three guys ask me to go. Not one of them was the man I want to go with." She stops.

Fuck! I hadn't even thought about asking her. I just kind of assumed we would be going together. I mean that was always just something I thought we would do together.

"Rose, I…" She cuts me off when I trail off myself.

"Em, if you don't want to go with me I'll understand. I'd just like to know." Before I can answer her, she starts talking again. "You know what, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like this, Em. I mean, not only was it presumptuous, but it was also rude. Just forget I called. I'm sorry, Em." With that she hangs up on me.

Well, damn. I hit speed dial three on my phone and wait.

"Hey, Edward, I need your help."

"What's up, Em?" I can hear my little sis laughing at something in the background and it brings a smile to my face. I knew I called the right guy.

"Ed, I need to do something 'romantical' for Rosie, and I need your help. Cause your like a 'romantical' savant or something like that."

"Yeah, I'll help, Em," He tells me. "Wait. Is '_romantical'_ even a word?"

"If it's not, it should be," I tell him. And really it should.

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**AN2: I hope you liked the growth, yes Bella is still shy but it has been almost a whole year, she is growing stronger inside of her friends and family bonds. Rose is growing too, and poor Charlie. His Garden Weasel adventure is based off my Uncle who ripped up his whole back yard and had to re-sod it because his new "toy" just wouldn't do what he wanted it too. Reviews are always welcome, and very appreciated even if I suck at responding. I really hate the new reply system. Visual aids are going up on the blog.  
**

**Some awesome recs as always add the fanfictiondotnet before the rest, or you can go to my blog where I have links for all of them:**

**Fighting Fate (complete) /s/7169439/1**

**Blood and Glory (complete and has an awesome sequel) /s/6755101/1/**

**The Roommate (WIP) /s/6945446/1/**

**A Fresh Start (complete) /s/6835874/1/**

**Meet the Masens (WIP) /s/6915683/1/**

**Theories of Bellativity (WIP) ****/s/6932812/1/**


	35. Chapter 35

**Beta'd by TwiDi and pre-read by PaigeloveRob  
**

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**AN: Sorry for the wait, lots of reasons which I won't bore you with. However please note I do update my blog and profile to keep people updated. Nasty PMs about updating are not needed nor do they encourage the writer to update. **

**In case you forgot: Bella came to live with Charlie her Dad and her brother Emmett after dealing with years of abuse from her mother Renee. Renee is now in jail for trying to kidnap and harm Bella. Renee's husband Phil who was a perverted jerk is now dead thanks to Charlie's gun. Edward and Bella are now dating, Alice and Jasper are together as well even though he is having an affair with his tire iron. Emmett and Rose had a rocky go of it and broke up for awhile and he dated Victoria who went a little crazy. Rose and Em made up after he found out about her miscarriage and the reason she had become so distant and cold. Bella now has a maternal grandfather, uncle and half younger sister who was adopted by her uncle and is being raised as her cousin. Bella is in therapy with Liz, and doing great. Liz has a crush on Charlie but ethically can not do anything about it. Alice and Bella are sophomores in high school while the others are all seniors. **

**Visual aids are going up on my blog, please note that it may contain spoilers so you might want to wait till after the chapter to look at them.**

**This chapter has a lot of viewpoint changes, but they are for a reason.  
**

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**Bella's POV (a couple of weeks later)**

I love the tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach when Edward kisses the side of my neck like he is doing right now. Gentle with very light suction, warm lips and finally his strong chest pushing into my much softer one. His hands slip a little lower, cradling my butt and gently squeezing the cheeks. Never too much, never too far and always wonderful. Yet, the more we kissed, the further we go and the further I want to go.

"Mmmm… your taste is divine," he says, moving to my lips. My tongue meets his, and I'm once again thanking Google for helping me get here. The first time he tried this was a failure, after a few hours using the search engine… and now it's beyond wonderful.

I rock a little and he groans. The tingle gets stronger. One of his hands slips up to gently caress my breast through my clothes. I know that in a minute he will work himself up to reach under my top. Skin on skin. We take everything in stages, making sure never to rush the other.

"Oh shit!" Edward leaps up suddenly and my butt lands hard on the floor. "Car," he explains, calming a little. He reaches down to help me up and brushes my backside as if to make sure no damage was done. His hand though, lingers a little longer than necessary. Not that I'm complaining.

"He's early." I pout. Edward being Edward can't resist kissing my pout. Soon enough, his lips are once again on mine. A throat clearing breaks us apart.

"Evening, kids," Dad greets us.

"Hi, Dad." Edward says 'hello' as well. This was just a little too awkward. And Charlie was a little too red in the face.

"Edward, I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna steal my daughter for the evening."

"Course not, Charlie." He leans over and kisses me gently. "Goodnight, love." I walk him to the door where we say 'goodnight' once more; and I sigh, turning to look at my father.

"Umm…" I trail off; a little worried I'm in trouble.

"You hungry, kid? 'Cause I could eat a huge steak. How about we go to the diner and grab some grub?"

"Ok, sounds good." I put my sneakers back on and follow him out to the car.

We spend an hour at the diner, laughing and talking about our day. He was wondering what I thought about a family trip this summer. Since Em was going off to school. Charlie thought something with just the three of us would be fun to do. I agreed and we decided to put it to a family vote on where to go and what to do.

However, by the time we got home, Charlie was acting funny. Twitchy and jumpy. He asked me to wait in the living room for him, saying he just needed a moment. A couple of months ago, I would have been worried sick that he was going to get the belt, or something else to beat me with. Now, even though I can't completely fight off all the worry, I'm more at ease.

When he comes back in, he is holding a book in his hands and shifting around. He gently sits in his recliner and turns towards me, putting the book behind him. He coughs, and starts bouncing his knee. This is vaguely familiar. I just can't put my finger on it.

"Bella…" He hesitates. "Oh hell, this was so much easier a conversation to have with your brother," he mutters to himself.

"Dad?" Ok, he was worrying me now.

"Bella, there comes a time in life when we get urges," he stops and takes a breath. I'm worried because his cheeks are bright red, yet he seems to be pale underneath it. "Now these urges are natural, and it's alright to have them." His knee bounces harder. "It's how you act on them that is what matters." Sweat is popping up along his brow.

"Dad, are you ok?"

"Fine, baby girl, just give me a moment."

"Ok." I stand up and go grab him a bottle of water from the fridge. He thanks me, takes a large gulp and motions for me to sit down.

"Like I was saying… urges, Bella, there are consequences for acting on those urges. Some are good, some will be great when you are older and some you never want to happen." He pulls something out of the book and hands it to me.

Looking down, I see the red and black cover and the words 'Sexually Transmitted Diseases' are in bold print.

"Umm…"

"Now, when you act on these urges, you can get one of these. These are bad; and some have no cure. You get herpes, you'll always have them." He gives a decisive nod. "AIDs, get it, you'll always have it."

"Ok?" I sort of ask, worried why he's telling me about STDs.

He pulls the book from behind him and hands it to me. _What to Expect When You're Expecting _reads the title. My eyes widen and I look up at the still beet red Charlie.

"One day you'll welcome a little one to this life. They are a blessing. Right now, your whole life would be turned upside down, kiddo. This book will give you an idea of how much you'll go through if you get pregnant. Urges that you give into can lead to babies. I just want you to be well-informed of the consequences of giving-in to your urges."

"Thank you?" _Really, what else can I say right now?_

"No thanks needed, kiddo. It's my job as your Dad to guide you and protect you anyway that I can." He takes a deep breath then lets it out. He shoots me a wary look. "Any questions?"

"No?" My tone still sounds more like a question than an answer, but Dad looks relieved.

"Good, good. I'm glad we had this talk." He pats me on the knee and flips on ESPN.

I say 'goodnight' quietly, taking my pamphlet and book upstairs. Dad kept talking about 'urges'; and I'm assuming he meant _the urge to have sex_. I do have questions, but I don't think Charlie is up to answering them. He almost seemed like he was going to have a heart attack or something just getting what he did out. I just have to figure out whom to ask. I don't think Google can help me with this one. Yeah, it can give me the mechanics, but it can't discuss my feelings with me.

With a heavy sigh I tuck Noel into the bed beside me and start reading the stuff Charlie gave me. Maybe I can find some answers in here.

**Emmett's POV**

Edward is the man. I swear the boy has this _romantical_ shit down pat. Now if we can just pull this off.

"Ben, Jasper, you both know what to do?" The drill Sergeant of love is giving his orders.

"Yep," Jasper answers, Ben just flashes a 'thumbs up', looking a little nervous.

"Em, you ready, man?"

"Yeah, let's do this thing."

"Alright, let's roll."

**Rose's POV**

"So, who are you going to go to Prom with?" Alice asks. I had just filled her in on my less than stellar conversation with Emmett.

"Probably, Eric," I reply with a sigh.

"Hey," Bella says softly as she sits down with her tray.

"Hey, Bella," Alice and I greet in unison. I'm a little shocked that she made it to the table without her permanent attachment, Edward.

"What are we talking about?" she asks.

"Prom, what else?" I laugh. "I think that is what the majority of the school is talking about." She nods giggling.

"I heard two freshmen girls discussing it in the girls' lav earlier. They were depressed that none of the junior or senior boys asked them," Bella tells us.

"It still sucks that budget cuts made them combine the two proms. The alternative was to cancel the junior prom, and that just ticked everyone off," Alice adds.

"I remember junior prom, Emmett actually asked me to that one." Ok that just slipped out. _Bitter much, Rose?_

"I thought he had asked you to this one?" Bella asks, her eyes wide with shock.

"Nope," I grumble.

"Oh." She shakes her head back and forth. "I don't think he's asked anyone else, and I _know_ he rented a tux. I just assumed…" she trails off.

"Knowing Em, he probably did just assume she was going with him," Alice tosses into the conversation. "You should totally go with Eric, make Em jealous."

"Jeesh, I know I said I'd probably go with Eric, but come on why would I willingly be going to the Prom with my cousin? That's like how every 'My-prom-sucked story starts, with the desperate party going to prom with a relative. And how exactly would that make Emmett jealous?" I laugh. "This may be a small town, but we haven't started inbreeding as far as I know." I roll my eyes.

"Wait, Eric is your cousin?" Alice almost yells, looking at me like I have two heads.

"Yeah, he's my Uncle Paul's kid."

"But your Uncle Paul has been married for like ever to your Aunt Gemma. You have cousins in college?" She is rambling on and on.

"Oh, it was a big scandal back in the day; I guess it faded away with the years. Anyways, my Uncle Paul and Eric's Mom—Lesley—had a little affair when my Aunt and Uncle were on the outs. Nine months later Lesley was married to Michael Yorkie, and Eric was raised as his kid. We've always known we were related though. It is one of those secrets-that-aren't-so-secret that this town has."

"Wow, I didn't know…" Alice trails off this time, her jaw dropping. She is staring off at something to my right. I turn to look and my jaw drops too.

Ben, Edward and Jasper are all standing there, arms loaded down with flowers. Different types, all white. I look around for Angela, wondering why her boyfriend is holding flowers here when she isn't sitting here.

"White carnations symbolize remembrance." Ben steps forward and hands me a dozen white carnations, followed by a tiny white card with the words; '_Never forget' _written on it.

"White tulips mean forgiveness," Jasper says as he hands me a dozen white tulips. The card with this one reads; '_Forgive me for not being all you deserve'._

"White Chrysanthemums symbolize truth." Edward hands me his offering and backs away. I read the card; '_The truth is I've always loved you, always will'. _Tears spring to my eyes.

"Rosalie Hale," Emmett's voice draws me to the center of the room, where he has a mic in hand and some kind of speaker next to him, "this past year has been one helluva ride and at times I had no idea where it was going, or where it would end. When I finally started seeing the end of the road, you were there. Rosie, will you continue on this journey with me, starting with being my date to the prom?"

"Yes!" I yell, rushing towards my big teddy bear.

"Hell yes!" He yells and pulls me up into his arms.

**Bella's POV**

The night of Prom came quicker than I could have ever imagined. Alice and Rose decided that it would be best if we all got ready at the Cullen's house, since it had the most room. Esme had dinner catered; and we had a wonderful spread together instead of going to the diner like so many of our classmates.

While getting dressed Esme came in with a surprise for each of us girls. Each of us received a beautiful clutch bag that matched our dresses. Mine was satin in pewter to match my shoes and shrug that went over my rich blue dress. Alice's clutch was pink and looked like flowers exploded out of it. It really fit her overall ensemble. Rose's clutch was silver, the same shade as her really high heels, the combo really blended well with her elegant deep purple gown. After that, she let us borrow jewelry to go with the outfits and I swear Alice squealed so loud that dogs all around Forks started howling.

"The promise land." She sighs, looking over her Mom's many baubles.

"Are you sure this is ok?" I ask Esme gently. You could tell these were not of the cheap Wal-mart variety.

"Bella, this is a special night. Plus, jewelry can be replaced, it's not like I'm handing out the crown jewels of England or something." She kisses the top of my head and looks at the offering before us before pulling a bracelet. "Here try this." She puts it on my wrist and I had to admit that it blended well and was perfect with the rest of my outfit. Alice quickly handed me earrings that matched, before moving on to look for herself.

"Thank you." I hugged Esme tightly. If I could have hand-picked my Mother, it would have been Esme. Or someone like her, because you know dating Edward wouldn't be legal or right if Esme was our mother.

"Ohhhh, this is the one!" Alice bounced excitedly. Earrings the same shade as her dress were quickly put on, followed by two rings in rose gold settings. Rosalie was pondering over the rest of the jewels when Esme smiled and stood up.

"I almost forgot these." Coming back, Esme handed Rose a ring and necklace both had amethyst gems and set in silver. They went with her dress and shoes really well. Esme paused as if she was unsure of Rose's response before handing her a small blue box, "Your Mom sent these over before she had to go to Seattle." Rose was handed diamond earrings in an oval setting.

"Grandma's earrings?" She had a tear in her eye. She grabbed her cell and rushed to the hallway. "Mom…" Was all we heard before she faded out of our hearing range.

"I have to say, we are three hot babes." Alice—who is posing in front of a full length mirror—says with a grin.

"Three _beautiful_ young women," Esme corrects.

"Ladies, let's roll!" Emmett bellows from downstairs, and Alice and I look at each other.

"Ready?" She asks me with a supportive smile.

"Ready." She grabs my hand and as we walked into the hallway, where we grabbed a smiling Rose, so that we could descend the staircase together. At the bottom, we found our handsome tux-clad dates waiting for us with open boxes of corsages. Beautiful flowers to adorn our wrists.

"You're stunning," Edward whispers softly into my ear while placing a white orchid—with some small blue flower that I didn't know—corsage on my wrist.

"Thank you." I gently kiss his cheek. "You look…" I pause for a moment, trying to find just the right word, "hot." I tell him with a giggle.

"I can deal with 'hot'," he assures me with a kiss to the lips.

"Hey, break it up, guys, we have a prom to get to," Emmett interrupts. Edward laughs good-naturedly as Esme walks up with a camera.

"Everybody, smile!" she exclaims.

After a lot of hugs, thanks and so many photos that my eyes were still seeing spots from the flash, we all loaded into the limo Edward and the boys rented for the night.

"Ok, seriously, on a scale from one to ten, how lame are we that we actually enjoyed dinner with the fam on prom night?" Alice asks, laughing.

"Probably around a nine, but who cares?" Rose replies, gazing at her pretty lavender rose wrist corsage.

"I agree. Personally I feel the media tries to make teenagers appear more apathetic and cranky than what we really are," My sweet Edward says in his practical-tone. "It's a proven fact that the majority of kids with a strong family ties go further education-wise, and later, they achieve more at work and have strong families of their own."

"Thank you, New York TimesWard," Jasper groans. "It's prom, loosen up, old man."

"I'm younger than you, Jasper." Edward semi-glares at Jasper.

"Dude, really, who cares if we are lame or not? Ten years from now, we'll all be college-grads with grown-up lives and thankful for all the time we got to spend with our parents; so when we become adults, we know how to do it right," Emmett tells us all seriously. "And yeah, Ed, sometimes you're like this 107 year old man in a teenager's body."

"True," Alice replies. Then laughs out, "on all accounts."

"I don't think you're old, Edward," I assure him with a quick peck to his cheek.

"Thanks, baby."

"Ok, guys, enough with the philosophy, raggin on Ed and parental talk. Let's get our prom on." Leave it to my brother to be serious one moment and ready to party the next.

~0~

Forks High School prom was nothing like I'd seen in all those movies Alice had been making me watch the past few weeks. No professional dancers having a dance standoff like in _She's All That_, and no mass murderer like _Prom Night_. Yes, she made me watch _both_ versions of _Prom Night_, swearing that we needed to be prepared for all eventualities that could happen. Though, I think _Not Just Another Teenage Movie_ was a bit over kill, seeing as how it was a parody.

The high school gym looked good though. It had some balloons, some miniature twinkle lights and its one flaw would have to be a really ugly disco ball—that Edward whispered to me that it had had to be from the 70s—taking center stage. Emmett, on the other hand, saw it and shouted 'cool'. To which Jasper assured him that all his taste has to be in his mouth.

Twenty minutes into Prom, Esme called Edward to make sure it was ok that she was a chaperone, one of the volunteers came down with food poisoning last minute and they needed someone to fill in. Of course we had no problem with it. So, she was now standing guard over the punch bowl as we all danced.

"Hey!" Angela and her date, Ben, greeted, joining us at our table. She looked great in a simple black dress. "Bella, I love your dress." She tells me.

"Yours is so pretty," I reply sincerely. "Are you having fun?" She nods.

"Yeah, I mean it's fun, even if it is a reminder that Ben is going away to college soon." She pouts.

"I know the feeling," Alice comments. "I feel a little guilty about it, but I'm glad Jazz will be going to the community college, so he is nearby. Three and a half hours away in Seattle would just blow." Edward must sense my tension as he reaches down and squeezes my thigh in reassurance. His going away isn't something I'd like to think about.

"So, are you all ready for Tanya's trial?" Grr… _another_ topic I hate.

"I can't believe how many continuances that girl got," Alice growls.

"Maybe they can shove her in a cell with Renee and let them drive each other nuts," Rose grumbles.

"Nope, Renee is bunking with Big Bertha. Tanya needs to go to the padded party room and bunk with Mad Mandy. They can color each other's straight jackets."

"Guys, it's Prom! What is it with you all and the deep topics?" Emmett groans. "I'm going to get some punch if Esme lets me by, anyone want anything?" We turn him down and he kisses Rose's head before walking over towards the punch stand.

"Speaking of 'deep' topics, did you hear that Jessica Stanley was caught by her Mom and my Dad going down on Mike Newton?" Angela laughs and we all start talking about how they were in the living room when her Mom and the Reverend Webber caught them.

**Em's POV**

"So, if I promise not to slip anything into it, can I grab some punch?" I ask the vigilant guard of the Prom punch. Two years ago they had an incident that ended up with three guys having too much special punch and streaking through town after Prom. And the year before, there was an accident that almost killed two now former students. I guess they were being more careful now.

"Go ahead, Em." She laughs at me gently. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yep, except for the whole talking about Psycho Tanya, it's been a good time."

"Tanya made her own bed, Emmett. Now, she is going to have to lie in it. She ruined her own future. Don't let what she did ruin or upset yours." She pats my shoulder and I smile. Esme has the kindest heart. She knows I'm brooding over Bella having to face Tanya and Renee in court. Yep, the D.A. said that Renee has been called to testify, since she was directly involved with the reason Tanya acted like she did. Downing my punch and telling Esme I'd see her later, I head off to the little boys room. Half-way there, a voice calling my name catches my attention.

"Emmett?" I turn to find Victoria standing there in a flowing multi colored dress.

"Hey, Vickie," I greet her nervously. The last time we spoke didn't end well at all.

"Em, I uh… well, I just wanted to say _hey_ and that I'm sorry." She signs and twirls a piece of her long curly red hair. "Listen, I mean it. I'm sorry. I kinda, sort of had a crush on you most of my life and well… obsession is a sick thing that takes over. After the whole thing with Tanya making the news, I took a step back and figured out that I was going down the same road and reevaluated my life. My Mom was a big help and well… I can see now that I was so wrong and you deserved better then the form of crazy I was putting out." She sighs.

"It's all good, Vic, it's not like you got a gang together and tracked my family down trying to kill us or anything," I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, but I was an uber-bitch." She laughs. "You should feel safe in knowing that I've moved on. His name is James, I call him Jaime; and well… I'm in love." She smiles dreamily.

"I'm glad, Vickie. I really am," I tell her sincerely.

"Well, I just want to wish you well, and hey, can you tell Bella _hi_ from me? She is a good kid and I really like her."

"No problem. You know you can always tell her hi yourself though."

"No, Em, maybe someday in the long off future when her life has been calm for a longer time, but right now, I have a feeling she might still be too fragile to trust that I'm being sincere."

"You might be right." She pats the side of my face and rushes off to a blond guy standing a few feet away. The embrace and the utter love and joy coming off the pair makes me smile even more. Prom rocks.

**Bella's POV**

Edward and I were wrapped around each other and he sang softly in my ear along with Bruno Mars's Rain. He would every so often kiss the tip of my nose, and a couple of times, a quick peck on the lips. Nothing that could call to the attention of our chaperones; I think we were both in agreement to avoid that attention.

"Hey, guys?" Rose tapped us on our shoulders and we found her and Em standing beside us. "There is an after party at Eric's house, want to go?" Edward looked at me, and I could tell that he really didn't want to.

"I don't think it would be a good idea, Rose, I have a curfew and if alcohol is being served, Dad might be called to break it up and Em and I would be in trouble." Just the idea of being in trouble still sent a shiver down my spine, but I used my mental mantra of '_This is Charlie, he'd never hurt you' _to work my way through the panic.

"Ok, no problem. Em and I are going, Jasper and Alice said they can't make it, same reason Alice has a curfew."

"Should Em be going?" I ask her gently.

"He'll be fine, Bella," she assures me and just give a nod. I can't help but worry. I push it to the back of my mind and cuddle back up to Edward, not wanting to ruin prom for him.

An hour and way too many dances later, Alice rushes over to let me know we needed to get going so we didn't miss curfew. The limo drops me off first, Edward being the sweet gentleman that he is, walks me to the door and kisses me. He whispers "tomorrow," before going back to join the others. On the other side of the door, I do a silly little happy dance and squeal. It's so out of character for me, but I'm so excited and happy that I can't contain myself. The whole night was like a dream. No drama, no pain and I—for once—felt completely like a normal teenage girl. Well, maybe not too normal—not everyone has a really hot boyfriend. And I have a feeling that how I'm feeling inside, and the way my body feels around Edward has to be the urges Dad kept going on about. I rush to the computer to Google. Surely urges won't bring up the things that sex and STDs did.

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**AN: I'm working on the next chapter, which is the last regular chapter. The epi is almost done too so the wait shouldn't be as long for the couple of you that are still reading this. After that I'm focusing on To The Extreme for awhile. If you didn't know I wrote a very short drabble called Our First Thanksgiving which is now complete. **

The rec's are on the blog dontrunffw (dot) blogspot (dot) com


	36. Chapter 36

**Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :0) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;)* ! **

**I think we all know I don't own Twilight, nor did I own the mega millions lotto ticket *le sigh***

**The epi is coming sooner than you think. This is the last regular chapter of Homecoming. I'll let you read however there is an important AN at the bottom. Enjoy my lovelies. And as always visuals on my blog dontrunffw dot blogspot dot com... this time there are a lot of visual aids but it is a spoiler so you might want to wait till after you read the chapter.  
**

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**Charlie's POV**

"Carlisle and I had an idea we wanted to run past you," Esme tells me as she sits down at my kitchen table, holding her cup of tea firmly in her hands. "We don't want you to feel like we are over stepping or trying to show off or anything like that." Her tone is nervous.

"Es baby, calm down." Carlisle smiles at his wife then looks at me. "I know we've all been worried about the kids living on campus, especially with poor Rose being at a completely different college than the boys'." He sighs. "You know, I dabble in real estate; buying houses and turning them into rental properties?"

"How can I forget?" I laugh. "Em still sometimes refers to you as 'Trump Lite'." My son and his sense of humor.

"Well, two weeks ago, my realtor called about a spacious duplex in a good neighborhood that has been on the market for a while. With the economy still struggling, people who are buying homes are looking for single-family, not mutli-family places. Anyways, the price is right and I went up to check it out; with a little work, I think it could be perfect. I put in an offer and it was accepted. I'm getting it for thirty thousand less than what it is worth." Carlisle grins. He is a savvy businessman when he wants to be.

"That's great, but what does this have to do with the kids and over stepping?" I'm a bit confused. My spidey-cop senses aren't picking up where this is going.

"I was thinking that it would be perfect for the kids for college housing with the girls on one side, boys on the other. They'll be close, in a great neighborhood and we'd have to worry less about them, because they'd be away from some of those dorm life influences."

"After Riley killed himself and Jane Weber got into drugs and ran off, we've had a hard time relaxing," Esme adds.

I have to agree with them. I've been worried about the kids going off to school. And while dorm life was wonderful for some, our kids just didn't seem the type to get into that lifestyle. I know Em and Edward had discussed getting an apartment, but worried they wouldn't be able to afford it. While Edward had a trust fund, he still couldn't touch it till his twenty-fifth birthday. His parents have tightened the purse strings since Alice was caught booking a private jet to Paris to go shopping. Needless to say it was canceled and new rules were put into effect about spending limits.

"Well, hell, I'm all for this, but I want to contribute something. Em has a free ride, so his college fund is just gaining interest. What can I help with?" This was a nice relief for me. Emmett could now use the money that came with his scholarship for room and board for food and other expenses.

"Well, we were thinking… maybe fifty a month towards bills? We were going to suggest the same amount to Nick to pay for Rose."

"Make it a hundred at least from me and I'm in."

"Agreed," Carlisle says with a smile, reaching across to shake my hand.

"I'm so happy." Oh Esme, so am I.

**BPOV**

**Three weeks later... Graduation Day**

I still can't believe Emmett, Edward, Rose and Jasper all graduated today. The ceremony in the school gym was long and stuffy. And not just the speeches were stuffy. A heat wave had hit Forks and the school gym's air conditioning was broken. Ninety degrees in June was really hot for this area of the country. Thankfully, though, the ceremony had been over for a few hours now, and we were all lounging around the Cullens' pool. The outdoor one.

To make it easier on everyone, Dad, the Cullens, the Whitlocks and the Hales all had one large graduation party at the Cullen home for all the kids. They split the cost, and we all pitched in decorating. The Cullens' house won since they had a huge pool and their place was spacious.

Edward was busy adding to my urges by walking around shirtless in a pair of board shorts. And about those urges, don't Google them… because you will get porn. After getting no help from my no longer faithful friend—Google—I broke down and asked Liz. She smiled and then laughed when I told her Charlie's version of the 'sex talk'. After getting his permission, she sat with me and gave me a better understanding.

Urges are my body's way of saying that I want sex, or that I'm attracted to someone. Edward clearly incites my urges. She also went over birth control and how important it was to wait to be sure, because you only get one chance at a first time. She openly told me how she regretted her first time because she rushed due to peer pressure. She told me when it's right, I'll know it deep down inside. She then told me not to be afraid to discuss it with Alice and maybe even Rose to get their input. She told me that sometimes talking with your friends can be a great way of putting your urges and feelings in order.

I gave in and talked sex with Alice. After finding out that she is having the same urges for Jasper that I am for Edward, we both actually felt better about it. Alice told me she felt like a slut, because while Jasper would go so far with her, he wouldn't go all the way. She told me she has tried and tried but he keeps holding back. Making her think that she was a sex-addict, or that something was wrong with her for wanting it more than he did. I told her that Edward and I kiss a lot. I didn't tell her that I liked to rub myself on his erection, because it feels so freaking good. We are both fully clothed for it, so I'm going to put that in the safe sex category.

"Earth to Bella?" Emmett laughs, landing in the lounge chair beside me.

"Hey." I smile at him.

"Hey, baby sis. You looked like you were in another world." I laugh softly and nod.

"Just thinking about a conversation I had with Alice."

"Cool." He gives a nod. "So, I was thinking we need to plan a kick-ass brother sister day to just chill and do fun stuff together."

"That sounds like fun, but aren't you still grounded?" Em and Rose both got in trouble the night of prom. The party they went to was busted up by the police, including our Dad. Only Em and Rose had taken over one of the bedrooms in the house—and were both naked as the days they were born—when Dad busted through the room to arrest the party stragglers they hadn't already caught. Needless to say, Em and Rose both got grounded by their respective parents. Rose pulled in two weeks, while Em got a month. I think Dad was traumatized by seeing Emmett _au natural_.

"Yeah, Dad freed me as graduation gift." He grins. "He said he couldn't in good conscience ruin my last summer as a kid. I guess the first day of college marks me as an adult in his mind."

"That was nice of him."

"So… you, me pizza and a movie up in PA? You can even pick the flick," he assures me.

"Sounds like fun." I give a small nod, and he pats me on the top of my head.

"Em, come on, man!" Jasper yells. "Ed and I need help hooking the net up." Emmett gives me another grin before rushing off to join Jasper and Edward hooking up the water volleyball net.

"Bella!" Alice squeals running towards me in her cute sundress. Alice, Rose and myself had all decided to wear sundresses to the poolside bash to make if feel like more of a party.

"Hey, Alice," I greet her like I didn't just see her thirty minutes ago.

"Bella, oh my God, you so will not believe this. Come with me!" She grabs my arm and pulls me towards the house. "I don't want the boys to hear this, but next week when they go up to Seattle on their orientation trip, Mom and Dad have rented a van so we can all go too. It is going to be so much fun. We get to see the campus and where the boys are going to be living." She giggles. "And Rose too, so we get to see Seattle Pacific's campus as well." Rose had decided to go to the smaller Christian college in Seattle instead of one of the larger universities.

"It sounds like fun," I assure her, though inside, I'm a little nervous because my last trip to Seattle I landed in the hospital with a severe panic attack.

"Girls, come on! It's presents time!" Emmett bellows from beside the pool. Brushing a hand over my own sundress, I followed Alice out to the poolside.

**Edward's POV**

Em, Jasper and I were loading up the GMC Savana van for our two-day trip to Seattle. Even though he wasn't going to U-Dub yet, Jazz still wanted to see where he was going to land eventually.

"It's not even five am yet, man, your Mother and sister are just evil making us leave out this early," Emmett grumbles.

"They have a plan or something like that for the trip," Jasper mumbles out. "Alice said something about time being too short and wanting to see everything."

"You know Ali, she wants to see and do it all." I smile fondly, thinking about my kid sister. I still can't believe Bella talked her into only packing one bag for this trip.

"Dude, I still can't believe your parents finding a van that sits up to fifteen people." Em laughs.

"They figure it was more environmentally sound than running three or four cars up and down the road," I tell him. "Mom had to talk Dad out of buying a mini-bus for this." I laugh, remembering that conversation. In the end, Dad bought the van in case we did anymore family trips.

"I'm here," Rose yells getting out of the back seat of her parents' BMW. Nick and Christina Hale waved from the front seat. Nick and his wife were not joining us, and I'm being nice by acting surprised that Rose's parents weren't going. They were, however, going to Olympia for a couple's weekend. Another in a long line of trips made where they are trying to save their volatile marriage.

"Hey, babe." Em rushes over and pulls her to him. I've always thought that Emmett's overly affectionate nature is one of the big draws for Rose. She gets so little attention at home that the love she gets from her man helps to balance it all out. Not that the Hales are bad people, they just were fairly self-centered and too much about showing off how much money they have. From my understanding… well, ok from what I've overhead when eavesdropping, most of the problems lie with Christina who has been called cold more than once. My parents and Charlie both think very highly of Nick Hale though. Personally, I feel they shouldn't have had children if they couldn't find time to give their daughter the love and support that she needs.

"Ready?" Dad asks, coming out with the keys and a very hyper Alice following closely behind him. You would think she was the one going off to college not me.

"As we'll ever be, at way too freaking early in the morning," Em grumbles in response. Dad's chuckle and concurring nod tells us that he is none too happy to be up their early either.

"Carlisle, could you help me with the bags?" Charlie calls Dad, as he carries a sound asleep Bella out to the van. Bella came over this morning half asleep and clearly decided to go back to her slumber.

"I'll help," I offer to my Dad and we go back in to grab the last of the bags.

After we finish those last few bags and load up in the van, Dad starts driving us towards Seattle. I will admit, I'm excited about this trip in more ways than one.

**Bella's POV**

I can't help it, and I feel kinda silly about it… I miss my dog. Noel couldn't come to Seattle with us so she stayed with Billy and Jacob Black out on the Reservation. Jacob assured me that he speaks dog, so Noel will be happy and safe with him. Dad reassured me that Billy had dogs in years past and knows what to do. Edward being Edward made sure they had our Vet's number in case of an emergency.

"Ok, guys surprise number one of the day," Carlisle says from the driver's seat. We had pulled into Seattle about ten minutes ago and he and Esme both seemed to be vibrating with excitement. Clearly they had something up their sleeves they couldn't wait to share. Turning right onto a pretty residential street and pulling up in front of a massive duplex house with a sold sign at the front.

"Edward was voicing his concerns about living in the dorms. And, Rose, your Dad wasn't happy about you being so far away from the guys so we came to a compromise. Carlisle and I purchased this place, one side for girls and one side for the boys. That way when Alice, Bella and Jasper come up here, housing won't be a problem." Esme's excitement is bubbling up in her voice. "There is a common laundry in the basement, so you don't have to worry about that either. This is one of the safest neighborhoods in Seattle, and the best part of this purchase is that we know all of you will be close by each other to watch out for one another."

"Three bedrooms on one side and four on the other," Carlisle takes up where Esme left off. "We are also doing some work in the basement area before you all move in to put in two guest rooms and a common game/media room like we have at the house."

"Dude!" Emmett fist pumps, going into the house.

"I'm going to get them painted and furnished before you move in, so if you have any color preferences let me know." Esme tells them as she starts taking notes and humming.

"It just seemed like a good idea to put the guest rooms in," Dad tells me. "It will be cheaper for all of us to come visit and not having to worry about hotels being booked up." He gives me a side hug, and I smile lovingly up at him.

By the time we made it inside, Alice had claimed the four bedroom side for us girls. Her pouting seemed to win over the guys. Rose was running her hand over the kitchen countertops looking longingly around. Edward and Emmett were trying to decide what color scheme they wanted for their "manly" living room.

"Guys, can you believe in just a couple of months this is where we'll be living?" Rose exclaims excitedly. As Edward, Emmett and Rose start talking about commute times and finding good take out places, Alice and I share a look. Neither of us wanted to face the day when we didn't have them around and now it seems as if they were excited to be going. Looking over at Jasper, you could tell he was masking how uncomfortable he is with this. As one who should be going, he was going to be left behind on a whole level that Alice and I could never understand.

~0~

Touring the campus took us a long time. We got to see all the important buildings and hear about all the fun things to do here. Our tour guide, Gina, was bubbly and full of school spirit. She also kept trying to get her flirt on with my boyfriend, which didn't endear her to me at all.

"So, that's it, guys," she finishes back at the administration building where we started. "Any questions?" Dad starts asking her about the campus safety procedures, while Gina keeps trying to flaunt her triple Ds into Edward's face.

"If those are real, I'm a natural red-head," Rose grumbles.

"Oh, I know. I swear, I hate girls like that who have no self-respect. You can tell she came to college to either find a husband or just become the school bike—everyone gets a ride on." Alice snickers out.

"Please, girls, the way she keeps inflecting Edward as being Mr. Cullen, she is trying to get in Edward's pocketbook and we all know he is too smart for that," Esme adds, joining our little I-hate-Gina party.

"You ready to go, baby?" Edward asks coming to wrap himself around me. The hateful glare Gina sends me makes me want to laugh. I've had worse bitch faces sent my way, and a Mother who tried to kill me more than once; this plastic girl wasn't going to intimidate me.

"Yeah, I'm starving," I tell him before kissing his chin softly.

"Food, I vote food." Em cheers, grabbing his tummy.

"Gina, thank you for the tour, as you can tell, our party is ready to head out," Carlisle tells her. Esme takes his hand and leads him towards the door. Rose and Alice giggle curling up to their boyfriends and my Dad just laughs while rolling his eyes. From Gina's furious expression, I think she is getting the point.

~0~

After lunch, we did a quick tour of Rose's school's campus with a sweet senior named Ashley. Where Gina was over the top and gave us a good chuckle, Ashley actually made me consider applying to Seattle Pacific. The smaller campus and so far the nicer tour guide was swaying me.

"I really like this one." I told Dad as we sat waiting for Rose to finish in the school store, she wanted some gear to take home with her.

"It is nice, very peaceful," he tells me with a smile.

"I didn't mean to intrude, but if you are interested, I can get you the information packet to look over," Ashley offers. "The financial aid here is great, because it is a private school we get a lot more alumni donations towards scholarship programs. I know without mine I wouldn't be able to go here," she tells me with a shy smile. "I transferred here after a semester at the University of Washington, but U-Dub is just so big that I never felt comfortable there. Here, I feel safer and more at home." She laughs. "My poor Mom, when she heard I was coming here, about stroked out on how to pay for it. She's a single parent and I still have two younger siblings, so money is kind of tight. I showed her the fin-aid offer and we found out we actually are saving money, I swear she wept with joy."

"Bells?" Dad asks me gently.

"I would love the information," I tell her with a smile.

"If you'd like, we can walk over there to the administration building and grab it?" I nod and Dad waves me off.

"You two go on, I'm going to stay here and wait for everyone else to finish up shopping, or as in the case of the boys raiding the café for those cinnamon buns they've become addicted to." He rolls his eyes and I laugh as he pulls out his cell. I know he's checking in with work, poor Charlie is always on duty.

"Your Dad seems nice," she tells me.

"He is," I assure her. "My Dad has changed my life in so many ways and I'm thankful for each day I get with him." For some reason, my real feelings burst through and I couldn't stop, so I kinda over-share with Ashley.

"I feel that way about my Mom. Without her, I don't know where or who I'd be." I nod knowing exactly what she means. I'd probably be dead if Charlie hadn't been there to take me in, and save me.

She tells me about her little brother and sister as we finish our walk, and I laugh at the humorous situations her younger brother seems to keep getting himself into. Soon we've reached the administration building and Ashley gets me the information that she promised.

"I'm going to write my e-mail on the pamphlet here, so if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me and ask." She quickly jots down her e-mail as a plump lady with dark blond hair comes over.

"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I swear," she gives a small embarrassed laugh, "I'm Mrs. Grant and I work here in admissions." I shake the hand she offers me. "I just wanted to give you this." She hands me a slip of paper with a bunch of information on it. "It's a list of courses we have that high school juniors and seniors can do as on-line courses to get a head start with college. It's sort of like an advanced AP program. If you haven't already taken the prerequisite course to get into the class, we allow you to try and test in if you really want to. The website has a good bit of information on it. We also have financial aid programs for those who qualify. Some schools—which lack a strong AP program for their students—actually have funds set aside for programs like these for their students that are eligible."

"I had forgotten all about this." Ashley sighs, sounding disappointed in herself. "The program only started a little over a year ago, so I don't always remember we have it." Mrs. Grants gives her a smile.

"Ashley is one of our best student guides, her evaluation forms from her groups are the highest of all the guides." She praises the girl. "But really, if you are interested in Seattle Pacific, and have the grades, I encourage you to get a head start. We allow up to two challenge classes per semester, and have classes for the summer too with the same class limit. If a student started their junior year, they could get a whole semester of school completed before even coming to college." I thank her again and Ashley and I take our leave to go back to the group. Rose and Emmett are busy making goo goo eyes at one another, while my sweet Edward munches on his cinnamon roll.

"Rose, I was wondering if you needed a tour of the dorms?" Ashley gains Rose's attention to ask.

"Oh no, thankfully I already have housing arranged off campus."

"Lucky," Ashley tells her, "the dorms here are nice, but trying to study when the neighbors or your roommate are wanting to party is not an easy task."

"I can imagine." Rose shudders. "Plus, sharing a bathroom with strangers is not my cup of tea."

"The freshman and sophomore dorms where they have a shared bathroom per floor are the worst. I had that at U-Dub and I felt so exposed and I never bathed without flip flops because some of those girls were just plain icky with their hygiene habits." Ashley laughs, remembering that time in her life.

"Is everyone ready?" Carlisle asks as he and the remaining stragglers return loaded down with stuff from the school store. Rose's Dad gave instructions that he wanted some school gear to support his little girl with.

"The tour is done, unless you have any more questions?" As we thank her for her help, she points towards the parking lot, and hands Rose an index card. "Here is the school's survey site, if you don't mind letting them know, anonymously, how the tour went for you, they'd use it for training purposes and to make sure that the guides are actually doing their jobs." Rose assures her she will and Ashley walks us back to the parking lot so we can get back into the van. "Bella, remember any questions, feel free to e-mail me." She pats me on the back, with a smile and I feel warm inside, because it seems like this complete stranger actually cares about me.

"I will. Thank you again." We wave goodbye, and then load up to head out.

After getting back to the hotel we were all occupying tonight—since the duplex lacked beds and cable—I show Dad all my information and both he and Carlisle thought taking classes ahead of time sounded great. I already had AP classes, not that Forks High offered a lot of them, and he didn't see any reason—as long as it didn't take away from my normal studies—not to take these classes. He promises to call Mrs. Cope Monday to find out the best way to go about this.

"Bella," Edward calls my name and I turn to look at him, looking so handsome and sweet in jeans and a light green T-shirt.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, hoping, you'd agree to be my date to my birthday party?" he asks formally.

"Of course, Edward." I beam at him.

"Good," he whispers, kissing my forehead.

~0~

A week after we returned from Seattle, we rushed around getting ready for Edward's birthday party. While we were there, Alice, Rose and myself had gone shopping for the perfect outfits and mine was so feminine and pretty that I almost felt like a different person. I had to smile. I was pretty in pink and it just fit.

"Are you ready?" Alice asks. Her own dress white with cherries all over it was adorable on her small frame. She jokingly told me she was hoping the cherries on the dress would inspire Jasper to 'pop' hers.

"Bella, I love that dress," Rose tells me for the third time. She herself was looking great in a fifties inspired lime green polka dot dress that really only she could pull off.

"Thanks, the both of you look great too."

"Alright, let's go get our men so they can enjoy how fantabulous we all look." Alice grabs my arm and drags me to the stairs.

As Edward wraps me in his arms, I can't help but remember the disaster that was his last birthday party. The place was packed with a ton of strangers, and how I was so new to these people that I now call family. It seems like only yesterday that I had come into their lives and they changed mine for the better. Now, here I am in this beautiful man's arms, knowing that I can touch him, kiss him and hold him to me and it is ok because he is my boyfriend. Last year this time, I was just happy to go to bed clean and with a full stomach not having to worry about Renee deciding to play one of her torture games.

Now, I have love, and I love and I've even admitted to myself that I am _in_ love. I just haven't admitted it to him yet.

My sweet Edward.

While I'm terrified about his going off to school, I know somewhere deep down that it will all work out. Two years and I'll be there with him. He and Em both have made promises that every other weekend they'll come home Fridays to visit. Except during baseball season, because Emmett has practice.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Edward asks gently in my ear.

"Nothing important," I assure him and he laughs.

"Baby, your nose was wrinkled and you're about to pop a hole in your bottom lip with your teeth; that is a sure sign that you are thinking, and thinking _hard,_ about something." He pulls me from the dance floor and out the sliding glass door off the large family room that we were using for the party. He keeps walking to the deserted pool where he pulls me onto a chaise lounger with him. "Now, talk," he orders in a firm, sexy voice.

"I was just thinking how different this party was compared to your last birthday party."

"A lot less people." He snorts. His voice then turns serious again. "I like it when it's just family and close friends though." I smile.

"Me too." He lowers his mouth onto mine and I sigh into his kiss. Warm, soft lips glide over mine. His strong hands caressing my back and grounding me to this world.

* * *

**AN: I'm not doing the thanks here, I'll save that for the epi lol. I did want to let you all know that I'm going to put together a copy of Homecoming about a week or two after it is finished in pdf form (maybe epub if I can figure out how to) that will be author's note free. I'm also going to try and clean up this version because in the beginning I did a few annoying things like in the middle of the story telling people visual aids on the blog lol. I will not be pulling to publish so have no fears. **

**This story started out as a way to share not only a friend's real story of abuse, but to let go of some of my own pain. My real life Bella and I met in a group for childhood abuse survivors and I mixed some of the abuse she had with her mother with some of the sadistic things my biological father used to do to me. It has been a painful journey and while some of the anxieties and abuses might be other they are based in reality. The blackouts are mine, when I have a massive panic attack I have been known to pass out and sleep for hours as a way of my body shutting down. My real life Bella who wishes to remain annon did in fact pull a shot gun on someone during a panic driven attack where she disassociated. Why am I telling all of you this? Because I received a review from someone telling me that the panic and responses to abuse in this story are not believable. Remember that not everyone responds to everything the same and until you walk in someone else's shoes who the hell are you to tell them what is and isn't real. That review hurt me more than any flame review I've ever received. It took all I had not to send a nasty reply, but I held back but I had to vent. Abuse isn't a game, people have real feelings and just because your limited view of the world doesn't have the things you've read about in it doesn't mean they are outside of anyone elses norms.**

**Thanks for reading I'll be off finishing up the epi and hoping for this story to go over 3000 reviews. When it started I dreamed for 300 and all of you spoiled me and my greedy little inner review h00r is dreaming of 3000 now lol.  
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	37. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks again to the wonderful TwiDi for beta'ing this and for taking this ride with me. Love you bb!  
**

**You've waited awhile for this, and I'm sorry I just couldn't seem to get this right, hopefully this epilogue won't disappoint. Longer an at the end, I have a few things to say and also wanted to give an update on what is going to happen to my stories in the future.  
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* * *

**Two Years and Two Months Later….**

Alice and I put the last of my stuff into my new bedroom at the aptly-dubbed Cullen Dormitory, also known as the duplex that will be my home for the next few years. Poor Dad he wasn't handling it well. Charlie had tears in his eyes and was acting like I was going off to war rather than three hours up the road to college.

"_Now, Bells, you have that pepper spray I gave you?"_

"_Yeah, Dad, in my purse and one in my backpack and the other is going in my night stand," I assured him for the fifth time._

"_Good." He turns away as tears start to well up in his eyes again._

"_Dad… Daddy, I promise. I'll call home all the time. I'll visit often and you can come see me anytime you want. I'm only three hours away, and Emmett, Edward and everyone else will be there with me." I pulled him into a hug and his warm arms wrapped around me. Dad really does give the best hugs._

"_I know, baby girl, I'm just an old worry wart."_

"_You're my old worry wart," I told him with a smile, some tears started to form in my eyes as well._

"_That I am."_

After that he gave me one last bear hug and one to Emmett and headed back to Forks. His sweet face a mask sadness as he left. I almost felt bad enough to go back home and go to the community college, but I knew this is where I needed to be right now; and that I'd see my Dad in a couple of weeks when I go home to visit.

After finally having some loving parental supervision, it feels odd to be without it again. No one to tell me bed time, or give curfews, or to catch Edward and I making out. Poor Dad I don't think he's recovered from the time he walked into the kitchen to see what was for dinner and found Edward's hand up my shirt and tongue down my throat.

"Noel, out of the box, baby," Alice pleaded with my fur baby, who just wagged her little behind and gave Alice a look of 'this is my box, deal with it'.

"Alice, it's ok. I'll just put that box out later." I laugh as the two have a stare off.

"Silly spoiled dog."

"Pot kettle, Ali," Edward taunts, coming into my room He picks up Noel who proceeds to give her Daddy lots of puppy kisses.

"Edward Anthony, I know where you sleep at night," she threatens, and he rolls his eyes.

"Shooo, little sister, there is a tall blond guy downstairs waiting for his date." Alice's mouth drops open and she looks to me then back at Edward.

"Jasper?" she asks almost as if she is afraid to get her hopes up.

"Jasper," he confirms and she jets off as fast as her little legs can take her.

"When did he get in?" I ask as I finish hanging up my clothes.

"About ten minutes ago. Garrett dropped him off and we unloaded his suitcases into his room," he explains from his spot stretched out on my bed.

"I'm so glad he's finally back, Alice has been driving me insane with her Jasper withdraw."

"Next time he and Garrett get the bright idea to spend a few weeks traveling the country, remind me to send Alice with them. She's small, she'll fit." He groans remembering the past few weeks of an 'Alice without Jasper' situation.

Laughing, I curl up beside him in bed. Noel—knowing that kissy time is about to happen—huffs and heads off to her puppy bed, or 'princess bed' as my sort-of-sister-sort-of-cousin Claire called it when she sent it to Noel for Christmas. Over the past two years my relationship with both her and the rest of the O'Rourke family has grown and deepened. They had even flown out a few times to visit. Grandpa stayed for a few weeks, even attending a few therapy sessions with me. All in all, he has proven himself as someone I can count on and love. Though Dad has to keep telling him to stop trying to spoil me, he likes to send gifts and money. It's his way of making up for Renee or something. I keep reassuring him that I'll love him just the same; even without him sending me anything, but alas, according to Claire, the old man is set in his ways. She too benefits from his generous nature.

I have to say that the very nice college fund he had set up for me when he found out I was alive is something I readily accepted, I knew it would help Dad out since I chose the more expensive private college. Grandpa is paying the tuition and Dad was giving me a monthly stipend from the college fund he started for me so that I didn't have to work while in school. I know I'm lucky because I'd always worried I'd have to rob a bank or something to be able to attend school.

Edward's lips gently touch mine, quickly ridding me of thoughts about my Grandpa. How could anyone think of anything when Edward is kissing them? My mouth slips open to accept his tongue and I moan a little as his hand starts to explore up the side of my t-shirt.

"Hey, guys, we're going to grab some grub, and Em's going to pick up… oh hell, can't you close a damn door when you start up? Now I need eye and brain bleach!" Alice stomps off and I hear Jasper closing the door as he laughs.

"Alone," Edward whispers into my ear, before lightly nipping at it.

"Alone," I agree with a small sigh that turns into a moan.

Shifting some, Edward removes his shirt. I love how he always goes first. I know this is his way of easing me into things, and making me feel more comfortable. I explore his chest gently, making sure to give his nipples little tweaks 'cause I know he really likes that. He does that sexy groan of his and sucks gently on my neck before working his way down to my t-shirt. Pulling away to look me in the eyes, I give him a nod since I can't speak. He slowly slides my shirt up, kissing the exposed skin and leaving a trail of fire in its wake. When he gets to my cotton bra with the cute little flower in the center he sucks my right nipple through the material as his hands continues taking my shirt off. A jolt arches my back and I scratch his shoulders with my short nails.

Hooking his leg behind mine he flips us so that I'm straddling him. His very erect penis is digging into my lower belly and I shift so that instead my vagina is pressed into him through our clothes. Feeling naughty, I rub against him and I swear I feel him twitch even through the layers of clothes. He thrusts up and it's my clit's turn to twitch in happiness.

Soon, my bra joins our shirts on the floor, followed quickly by my tan cotton shorts and his jeans. In just my _Hanes Her Way_ pink cotton bikini underwear; and Edward is a pair of grey boxer briefs, we continue to roll around on my new bed, touching and licking. Kissing hard, our touches filled with our love and passion.

The first time we made love was awkward and slightly painful, but each time since then it has gotten better. It's my belief that it's not just because of us learning each other's bodies better, but the fact that as a couple, we have grown and with that, our love has as well. I couldn't imagine letting anyone else inside me, or even to touch me the way that Edward does.

"I love you," he whispers as I start to lower myself gently onto his penis.

"I love you," I reply back, panting.

Our rhythm starts slow, but as that pressure builds in my lower stomach, my pace quickens just as Edward speeds up his thrusts. He moves a hand to rub my clit and I feel my eyes roll back in my head from the pleasure his touch brings. I bounce a little because it just feels like I need to, and he grabs my butt to move me into a delicious position. Edward flips us over again driving into me hard and my orgasm hits. Spasm after spasm of explosions. I feel him jerk and look into his eyes as he falls apart inside me. His lips taking mine into a deep kiss as we lay there my limbs feeling like noodles.

"First time without having to worry about Dad coming home early." I giggle, still on a happy high in my post coital glow.

"Ha! First time I didn't have to worry about your Dad was going to shoot me in the ass while we did that." I nod and laugh some more.

"Love you," I tell him.

"More than anything," he tells me before slipping off to sleep.

~0~

"Rose baby, I swear I was not trying to hit on the slutty cheerleader," Em yells after a very ticked off Rosalie.

"What happened?" Alice asks from her perch on Jasper's lap.

The four of us, Alice, Jasper, Edward and myself were snacking on pizza celebrating a successful first day of classes. Rose had gone to get Em from practice since his jeep needed a new radiator—which they had to order—so he had no ride.

"Your brother," she points at me, "was on the football field with that tramp giggling and touching his chest while he laughed and talked to her. I told him baseball was enough, but nooooo, he had to play football too. And to top that off, slutty-McSlutterson Jessica Stanley had to be a damn cheerleader at UDub."

"Ahhh," I say as if I understood why she was so ticked off.

"Yeah, ahhh," she grumbles, grabbing a slice of pizza and plopping on the sofa beside me. Emmett looks from his place in the doorway and I point to the food. He quickly grabs a slice before Rose can harm him, and sits on the recliner a few feet away from Rose.

"So, Emmett, would you like to tell us your side of the story?" Alice, Ms. Pre-law, asks. Yes, she needs to get her bachelors, she is going for political science, before going to law school, but she has taken upon herself to try and practice for her future.

"Yeah, I would. See, I finished playing. And Jessica called me over 'cause she was happy to see a familiar face. She tripped and landed on my chest, we laughed at how clumsy she was and then Rose stormed up looking all hot and pissed off. That's all that happened."

"I believe him," Jasper says, "she tried that move on me once during basketball season; she has the trip and flirt down to a science."

"Grrr!" Rose growls at Jasper and I scoot over just a little.

"Rose, if I may interject, perhaps you should be mad at Jessica and not the victim—Emmett," Lawyer Alice speaks again. I really hope she gets over this soon, it makes me miss color co-ordinate Alice.

"I agree with Alice, Rose," I tell her.

"You are going to avoid her in the future unless you want to have to visit me in jail," she tells him, then stops and looks at me, "umm… you know what I mean, I wasn't…" I smile at her.

"Rose, my womb donor is in jail. I'm cool with that. I only visited her once because Liz thought it was important for me to confront Renee so I could move on." She smiles and gives me a side hug.

"I'm still proud of you," she whispers in my ear and I fight back the tears that try to well in my eyes.

Rose and I might have started out rocky, but now, she _is_ my rock. To be honest, Rose had become almost a mother-figure to me. After the disaster that was Charlie's attempt at the sex talk, Rose sat me down and talked things out with me. Not only was I able to go into my first time with Edward without fear, but I also wasn't expecting a perfect experience—as if it were out of a romance novel. Rose let me know that sex can be messy, the first time hurts but in the end it gets better, the orgasms are worth it, and the mess will shower off.

She also stayed with me the night Tanya got sentenced to a mental hospital instead of jail. It seems my Aunt has borderline personality/sociopathic disorder. Something I worried could be inherited. That night I cried and freaked out thinking I was going to turn into Renee and Tanya. Rose stayed up all night holding me and whispering it would be alright. Dad and Emmett had been clueless to my breakdown because I hid it from them, I didn't want to worry them. The next day Rose dragged me into Liz who set my fears at ease letting me know that I had no signs of this disorder and she didn't really fear for my future children. She told me that while some families seem to have the disease more prominently, that it wasn't necessarily something that was inherited.

"Bells, you ready?" Em pulls me out of my thoughts and points to his cell. I grin and follow him out of the room.

"Hello, kids," Dad greets us.

"Hello, Charlie." We do a really bad Charlie's Angels skit while laughing. Emmett got me into TV Land reruns and we both found it funny to do that to our Dad.

"How was the first day?"

"Good, most profs just handed out the syllabus and let us go early."

"I had two that did that today, and then one who jumped right into a lecture," I tell them.

"Told you that you should have gone to U-Dub," Em taunts, and I smack his arm.

"I'm so telling Rose you are knocking our school… again." He rolls his eyes and Dad chuckles.

We go on to fill him in on the little details of our days. Dad found Em's story about Jessica and Rose hilarious. I told him about seeing Ashley today. She had taken on a job in admissions after graduation. We had stayed in touch after the tour, sending e-mails and Skyping. Dad told us about his day, taking time to tell us about Mrs. Yorkie (Eric's Grandma, not his Mom) who had wandered off from the Forks' Adult Daycare Center again; and they'd spent a few hours trying to find her when the whole time she was at home watching Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. She had all of her mental facilities, however, her overprotective-son kept trying to send her to daycare when she really just wanted to stay home and watch her stories. After a little bit, we ended our call and headed back into the living room on the girls' side of the 'plex.

"How's Charlie?" Edward asks, as I curl up into his side.

"He didn't have to shoot anyone and Esme brought him dinner at the station. So, to him, it was a good day." I smile, thinking about how sweet Edward's Mom is to make sure Dad is eating a regular diet and not take out and diner food every night.

"Good." He laughs, kissing the top of my head.

"Yep, good." I reply.

~0~

"So, this is our final session." Liz smiles at me from her desk.

"I guess it is." I fight back the sad feeling that this brings over me.

"Bella, you have grown and bloomed into a wonderful, loving and completely capable young woman. And I couldn't be prouder of you," she tells me, as she comes over to the sofa I'm sitting on. She sits beside me, taking my hand.

"Thank you." And I mean it for everything she has done for me.

"Bella, there is nothing to thank me for, it was my pleasure to see you heal. I wish you had never been hurt. I could skin that woman for doing that to you. However, you are one of my greatest successes."

"I couldn't have done it without you," I tell her earnestly.

"Bella, you could have. This whole, healthy woman that is sitting beside me was inside you ready to come out. Your Dad, brother, Edward and the rest of your support system did just that. Support that butterfly wanting to burst from a hard cocoon that had you trapped. You did all the work to get out of it. We just supported and guided you along the way." I reach over and hug her.

"I'm glad it was you then," I tell her, knowing she is refusing to take credit for all that she had done for me.

"Me too, sweetheart, me too." She squeezes me. "And I know you and Sally are going to get along just fine." I nod into her shoulder. Sally is my new "adult" therapist that I'm seeing once a month in Seattle. Liz feels that having a sounding board nearby will be helpful to me while I'm adjusting to college life. After a few minutes of just sitting there giving each other comfort, Liz's desk beeped with a reminder that our time was now really up.

"Goodbye," I tell her at the door, still sad to be walking away from something that had been so important to my life.

"Now, we'll have none of that 'goodbye' stuff. I'll see you tomorrow at the Cullens for Thanksgiving dinner," she reminds me. Yes, while I've lost Liz as a therapist and the safety of her office where I was able to rant and rage, I'll still have her in my life as a friend.

"Ok, tomorrow then." I wave and rush out to see my Dad sitting where he always sits when I'm doing one of my sessions. Charlie was a true creature of habit, and I have to say that is something I love about him and have inherited from him.

"Ready?" I nod and take his hand, leaning my head against his shoulder.

**Charlie's POV**

Almost four years ago I received that call. Almost four years ago I rushed to the airport and saw my child in rags, looking emaciated and more like a homeless person than a teenage girl coming to her Dad's from her Mom's. Almost four years ago I found out how broken my daughter was.

I did all I could for her, gave her all my love and made sure she had a real home. Many nights I'd fought the urge to go up to the state penitentiary and end that pitiful excuse of a woman—who gave birth to my daughter— as I heard my baby cry, or after all those therapy sessions when she couldn't stand to be touched or be around anyone.

When I found out about the times Renee played her games, the times she almost ended my precious child's life, I couldn't hold back my rage anymore. I got in my squad car and took off. I was going to get Renee in a visitor's room and put a bullet in her head. I wasn't thinking about the consequences, just that I needed to make sure this monster never came near my daughter again. When I got there, the warden, Victor Brady whom I had gone to high school with, stopped me. We hadn't seen each other in years, but he could tell from the look in my eyes that I was raged. Pulling me into his office, I told him everything and he made me a promise that Renee would get the full jail experience, and not to worry. I knew from his e-mails that once the population in the prison found out that she was a child abuser, it hadn't gone over well. Her roommate beat her till she almost died, and then for Renee's "safety" she was put in solitary confinement for three months. A dank little cell with no windows, a hard bed and a toilet, I'd call that a palace compared to the closet she made Bella stay in as punishment.

Six months ago, I watched my baby girl walk across that stage and get her high school diploma. Sadly, because she moved here only before her freshman year, she didn't qualify for valedictorian. But she did graduate with honors and several college credits under her belt.

In the time between Bella's arriving and her graduating, my daughter blossomed. Her body no longer looks like she is starving. Her pallor is now a beautiful ivory skin tone, her hair shines and more than anything she smiles and laughs. The shell of a child I was given is now a healthy and happy girl with not only her family but a strong network of friends. The child who was afraid to trust, afraid to talk to people, will wave and greet the other town-people when she is out and about now. While she still has some days where something triggers flash-backs of her time with Renee, she has gained wonderful coping skills that help her to move on from those setbacks and not wallow in them.

Today my daughter and my son are attending college. I probably shouldn't but I'm personally patting myself on the back for having two such smart wonderful kids that were able to overcome adversity and were able to go on to college and have plans for their futures. Emmett is still planning on becoming a gym teacher, though there have been some scouts for pro-teams sniffing around him at school. I've encouraged him to get his degree before he decides. Bella is majoring in accounting with a minor in psychology. Her natural aptitude with math led her to decide she wanted to be a small town accountant. Both her, and I'm assuming—by the way they are still glued up together, my future-son-in-law—Edward have plans to come back to Forks after graduation. Personally, I couldn't be happier my little girl is planning on coming back after she graduates. I can only hope that Emmett does the same as well.

"Dad, umm… are you going to eat or just stare at me smiling?" Bella laughingly pulls me from my thoughts and I look around the dining room table at the Cullens and grin sheepishly. Liz winks at me like she knows what was going through my head.

"Yep, sorry about that, kiddo." She rolls her eyes in a very 'Alice-_y_' way.

"Hey, Doc, is zoning out a sign of old timers?" Em jokingly asks Carlisle.

"Emmett, behave." Rose smacks his arm. Poor kid, her Mom ran off with the school library assistant, Kathy and her Dad has gone off to find himself in Europe. And now, not counting our whole gang, she is basically alone.

"Dang, babe, that hurt," he jokes, kissing her on the cheek.

"Boohoo," Rose retorts.

"Speaking of boohoo, with Christmas around the corner, my measly credit limit just isn't going to do it, Dad." Alice speaks up, batting her lashes and giving Carlisle the pout.

"Mary Alice, what have I told you?" Esme groans out, she knows her husband is weak when it comes to his baby girl.

"But, Mom…" she whines and I hold back a chuckle.

Some things never change. Alice will always love shopping. Rose and Emmett will always be Rose and Emmett. Jasper will always quietly sit there and wait for his sweet Alice. Edward will be my daughter's Edward. And Esme will have to make sure Carlisle doesn't slip Alice her little black credit card back. And while all of those are wonderful things in their own right because it's all about love; luckily some things change and my little girl is able to fit right in. I smile as she tells Alice about budgeting. Already my girl is an accountant. She looks over and catches my smile and gives me a soft grin.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Daddy."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Bells."

**The End**

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**I will be adding story recs to the blog later, I need to feed my son so I don't have time right now...  
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**AN: First I want to thank all of you for your support last chapter, I wanted to do review replies but between ffnet being a bitch and me getting weepy everytime I tried not many got a reply and I apologize for that. Next I want to thank each and everyone of you who stayed for this whole long drawn out journey with me, much love and hugs to you all. I also wanted to give you some what I hope is good news, the pdf and epub versions are almost complete, I'm still going over it but my blog will have the links soon. Also I've decided that after I finish To The Extreme I am going to revisit Homecoming. That is why all your answers and some things got glossed over. The story is going to be called Homecoming: The College Years. It won't be nearly as long as Homecoming, but there will be a bit more smut and we'll get to spend some happier times with Bella :0).  
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**Now for To the Extreme fans: I have a o/s I have to finish for charity and then I'm going to be working on TTE. I plan to have a chapter out by the 4th of July, and some regular updates after that since I'm planning on banking a couple of chapters so you don't have to wait as long. I promise Motocrossward is riding back into your lives, with some twist that I've already got mapped out ;0)  
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**Starts With Goodbye fans: It is coming, a friend sent me a copy of the story so I'm just going to re-edit it since I can't find the finished version. Give me a couple weeks and I'll start getting the updates going.  
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**Prodigal Returns: Will be returning this fall.  
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**Casulaties of Desire: I have no idea, I'm still thinking of taking it down. There are a lot of issues with this story that I can't seem to get passed to get it going again.  
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Tempting Bella fans: I am thinking of getting this beta'd and I'm also working on putting a ebook of it up for all of you with the banner and stuff in it. I also have half an outtake done that has something that fans of the story have been asking for.

**I do have a few other plot bunnies that I'm working on that will start posting once I finish up some of these open ended projects. As long as all of you are reading I will continue to write. I have no plans to pull to publish though I am writing a book that probably never will be published I may one day share that will you as well.  
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**No visual aids this chapter :*(  
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**Once again thanks for the riding the Homecoming bus with me, and for now this is our last stop, please don't hesitate to review ;0) .  
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